We will be having six rounds of talks each year with business and community leaders concerning financial developments in their enterprises and industries, with about 200 visits in each round. The selection of contacts represents the production side of the economy, both industry-wise and geographically. In the course of 2003, the number of contacts in the network will rise to about 1000 persons. These individuals will be contacted once or twice a year. Kunnskapsparken in Bodø conducts the contact meetings in Region North. In general, our contacts in Region North reported at the end of August and the beginning of September that developments continue to be sluggish. The fishing industry is still experiencing difficult times, even though some enterprises have reported a slight increase in demand for certain species and products. Companies supplying goods and services to the fisheries and aquaculture sector are experiencing a decline in demand and output and a number of companies only have a few service orders. The household service sector is reporting a small increase in demand, whereas companies’ demand for services is generally stagnant or falling slightly. The public sector is reducing the number of employees, while retail trade and the construction sector are planning a slight increase in the number of employees. The rise in costs in the last few years has not fed through to prices due to intense competition, both from abroad and from other market participants in Norway. Instead, enterprises has reduced activity and implemented extensive efficiency- enhancing measures.

Despite this notable progress, there remains opportunities to leverage more on existing platforms to address more recent challenges pertaining to cross border issues such as regulatory arbitrage, facilitating financial integration, and establishing a more robust framework for regional macro surveillance and crisis management. The global crisis experience also offers important insights that could further deepen our understanding and cement cooperation in the area of cross border resolution of problem institutions. The ongoing efforts in Europe to implement "living wills" would be of significant interest to this region, from the perspective of their construction as well as implementation. While these approaches are still untested, this exercise will make an important contribution to deepen our understanding on the relevance of business models and the different regulatory structures and legal systems that have an important bearing on the operations of significant institutions with cross border operations. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Moving forward, more experience is still to be gained in regard to effective financial stability communication strategy, an element that has not received much attention until the recent crisis. Credible financial stability communication strategies, particularly during periods of heightened uncertainties will require appropriate timing and delivery as well as effective coordination among relevant agencies. The effective coordination of announcements on the blanket government guarantee and liquidity measures in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong during the recent crisis for instance, had helped sustained the overall confidence in our financial markets.