provide you with an understanding of the relevance of the board to our strategic plan management process and ultimately to your job. second, you will have a module on good corporate governance. without wishing to preempt what you shall be taught, i wish to only explain that good corporate governance is one of our strategic objectives and its inclusion as a strategic objective reflects our commitment to align our operations with world best practices, consistent with our vision ‘ to be a world class central bank ’. the module on risk management was included to provide you with knowledge that will enable you appreciate why the bank has introduced the risk management department. director - risk management will do a presentation during which he will explain what risk management is all about and its relevance to bank of zambia. finally, the inclusion of a module on the core functions of the bank of zambia is designed to provide you with knowledge on the operations for which the bank was established. this is important for a number of reasons. first, we want to have a cadre of enlightened and well informed managers who will portray a positive image of the bank and reflect our standing as a world - class bank. as managers, you have to have a reasonable understanding of how the bank ’ s core activities departments operate and are organised. second, as managers, especially as “ world - class ” employees, you are also expected, by the public, to have a reasonable grasp of issues pertaining to core operations of the bank. this may sound pretty obvious, but i know that there are many of our managers who have no idea how some of our core departments function and cannot intelligently explain our role in the economy. this reflects badly on the bank with regard to the calibre of its staff. the third point is that your understanding of core and other departments operations for that matter will facilitate staff rotation, a policy to which the bank is commited. finally, and most importantly, an understanding of core functions enables you to better understand and appreciate the mission of the bank. this in turn facilitates a better understanding of the strategic plan. in closing, i wish to say that i know that the bank has come a long way and has demonstrated marked improvements in the way that it conducts its operations and in the quality of its management. director – human resources will show in his presentation on the change process in the bank. thank you.

, the balance of power has gradually changed. these realities are not fully reflected in the institutional system that was built up at the end of world war two, in bretton woods and elsewhere ; the united states still has a major role in these institutions and so does europe. together with emu, this raises many questions about future representation in the international bodies. those of us who represent sweden have the important but difficult task of maintaining our country ’ s position in the international financial cooperation in a constructive way, despite several decades of relatively weak economic development. perhaps that should be a topic for a future discussion under the auspices of the institute of international affairs.