is now – there were six member states with 167 million people, rather than the 28 member states and 512 million people in the eu today. the accession of ireland ( together with denmark and the united kingdom ) in 1973 expanded the number of members to nine. ireland was by far the poorest country in the community at that time ; gdp per capita was just 53 per cent of the eu average. ireland was a peripheral economy on the edge of europe and quite dependent on exports of basic agricultural products. ireland was also heavily economically dependent on our former colonial power, the united kingdom : in the early 1970s, over 60 per cent of exports went to the uk market. a quarter of the irish workforce was in the agricultural sector and ireland experienced high levels of unemployment, high emigration rates and low productivity in key economic sectors. forty - five years later, the picture is very different. ireland has a population of just 4. 7 million but firms in ireland now have access to a single market of over 500 million consumers across the 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches eu. in turn, a large eu market provides a key foundation for global trading activity, both through scale effects and the assurance that eu membership provides to international customers in relation to regulatory and product standards. living standards in ireland are now comparable to those prevailing elsewhere in the eu. exporters – both local enterprises and the large - scale multinational sector – are a key driver of overall productivity sector and, being less exposed to domestic demand conditions, provide an important source of economic and financial stability. the traditional agri - food sector has been transformed, with a shift towards higher value - added activities, while ireland is an important location for international manufacturing, international business services and international financial intermediation. eu membership has also allowed ireland to foster trade linkages with a broader range of countries ( both inside the eu and outside the eu ) than had previously been the case : ireland has gone from exporting more than 60 per cent of our goods and services to the uk in the early 1970s to just 13 per cent today. multinational firms play a significant role in ireland ’ s export sector. as a small country, the scale and composition of foreign direct investment ( fdi ) is fully inter - linked with the international trading opportunities provided by eu membership, since the local market is too small to justify significant inward investment. rather, these firms are typically looking for an eu base to serve customers across europe, the middle east and north africa ( the emea regions ).

into all aspects of the banking market in fiji. i was particularly pleased to see how readily bsp embraced the fijiclear payment system even though they were the newest boy on the block. they are also not holding back on introducing new banking technology. bsp is in the process of installing two atms in suva and another two have been installed here at this branch. it is also extremely encouraging to see a regional bank like bsp making waves in fiji. we all know that bsp is a strong regional bank with a history going back as far as 1957. bsp is listed on the port moresby stock exchange and is the largest bank in papua new guinea. bsp is expanding its regional footprint with one branch in niue, one in the solomon islands and now two in fiji. from the reserve bank ’ s viewpoint, well - established and well - capitalised banks like bsp provide greater choice, competition and innovation in the fiji market. that is a good thing for business and the public, and is therefore good for fiji. every business seems to be heading down the queens highway to nadi. it was a matter of time before bsp took to the highway. it makes good business sense. nadi town is an excellent location. the town will continue to grow feeding off its tourism base. banking industry let me say a few more words about the banking sector in fiji. we have 5 commercial banks right now. over the years, the number has hovered around this level – it has gone up and come down. some banks have come and left for one reason or another. fortunately, their departures have been handled smoothly. unfortunately, we had to restructure one bank but again that complex operation was well managed. all in all, i believe that our banking system has matured in the last ten years. with that maturity has come greater stability and soundness. and that augurs well for the economy. and talking about the economy, it appears from some of the comments in the media that many of us do not fully grasp the contribution that the financial system makes to the economy. in 2006, the banking sector in fiji employed over 1, 500 people ( and rising ) and contributed close to $ 40 million in taxes. clearly, this is a serious and important business sector for fiji. the banking sector plays a key role in the economic development of this country. i am sure if you ask bsp, they would tell you that banking business here is hard, not