investors will continue to do business in future or probably even expand. secondly, their positive perceptions can serve as a source of encouragement or comfort to potential investors who might be contemplating investing in zambia. on the contrary, negative perceptions have the opposite effect. they may dispose existing investors to disinvest. that action alone may serve as the most eloquent statement that all is not well with the investment climate in the country thus risking existing investment and keeping at bay prospective investment. the general findings of the report fortunately are positive. political stability and governance, economic and regulatory reforms some of which have led to improvements in the business environment, macroeconomic gains reflected in robust gdp growth, low inflation, reduction in budget deficits and relatively stable exchange rate are some of the elements making up the improved investment climate. in contrast to past perceptions which focused on the bis central bankers ’ speeches volatility of the investment climate, high levels of poverty, absence of institutional governance coupled with corruption, the report paints a changed picture. investors are seeing zambia as offering a stable and predictable environment with an elected government and functional democracy. it is this positive environment which is seen as explaining why zambia remained resilient through the financial crisis of 2009 and enabled the country to rebound strongly in 2010. it is noted in the report that foreign private capital inflows into zambia posted a strong recovery to over us $ 3. 3 billion from a slump of below us $ 1 billion recorded in 2009. but as we review this report, it is important not to gloss over some of the challenges that must be addressed in order to consolidate this positive environment. these challenges include infrastructural deficiencies in transport, telecommunications and energy, the small market that zambia presents, constraints to doing business, enduring perceptions of corruption, inadequate skills and talent management. although the country has seen increase in investment in many sectors such as construction, agriculture and the financial sector, copper remains the major focus of foreign investment. but over - dependence on natural resource wealth and the related commodity prices is not a very sustainable route to growth. this consideration brings into focus one aspect that this workshop should address, that is the need to encourage private investment across many sectors. the country must diversify in such a way that it reduces its present dependence on copper and draws strength from other sectors. we all know the effects of over - reliance on the copper exports on our economy. it remains a source of vulnerability due to price fluctuations in the international market, making the country

for making payments. the origins of sepa lie in the introduction of the euro in 1999. although wholesale - or interbank payments were catered for by target, citizens of the participating countries did not have a comparable facility for making cross - border, non - cash, low cost, retail payments in euro, even though they shared common banknotes and coins once the euro cash changeover took place in 2002. even now, each national retail payments market remains essentially isolated from those of other euroarea member states, with levels of efficiency and service varying from one euro - area member state to another. as a result, cross - border retail payments in euro can be slower and less efficient than comparable payments made within any one country. this is because payment systems rules, procedures, standards and technical systems vary from country to country. therefore, while goods and services can be traded freely across the euro area, the underlying payments are still hampered by national borders and arrangements, so that the completion of the'internal market'is to some degree frustrated. the sepa project aims to ensure that all consumers throughout the euro area, whether individual citizens or corporate entities, will have available to them common retail payment instruments. in principle, at the end of the process in 2010, all euro - area bank customers will be able to use one payment account and one set of standardized instruments. this simplified payments world that will result from sepa will be a major benefit for those who make cross - border payments. when the sepa project is completed, all euro area payments will, in effect, become domestic and the current differentiation between national and cross - border payments will disappear. competition should be enhanced, since all consumers using payment services, and not just those making cross - border payments, will be able to choose between payment service providers throughout the euro area, regardless of where they might be located. this should foster innovation in the provision of payment services. it should also not be forgotten that sepa will bring the benefits associated with a very real modernisation of payment functionality throughout the euro area. thus, while it is acknowledged that sepa undoubtedly involves large - scale investment by the banking industry, in the longer - run, the opening up of the euro area payments market to competition means that the industry itself should share in the benefits of this project. one very topical debate in the sepa arena relates to how payment cards - in particular debit cards can become sepa - compliant. in this regard, the eurosystem recently