transfer system known as the solats, which is a real time gross settlement ( rtgs ) payment system. you may have recently experienced that payment transfers are now instant. cbsi aims to ensure every resident of solomon islands is finally able to access the financial services they require and deserve at their finger - tips. we will also redouble our efforts to improve access to credit, the lifeblood of investment. this is of vital importance for our smes – the backbone of our economy – and our new start - ups, our disruptors and innovators, who often require special care and incubation in the earliest stages of operation. ladies and gentlemen, all these things cannot be done without the ceasing effort of everyone. it needs the support of all stakeholders, including the government, the private sector, non - state actors, ngos, development partners, and all individuals. we all have a role to play in this. cbsi operations let me now close by briefly reflecting on the bank's operations last year. the bank recorded a net operating profit of $ 199. 4 million, reversing the $ 12. 8 million loss incurred in 2022. of the total profit, $ 129 million is in the form of unrealized revaluation gains and $ 70 million is operational profit. overall, cbsi's net equity position improved significantly, rising by 64 % to $ 531 million. total assets stood at $ 6. 60 billion at the end of 2023, the majority ( 90 % ) are foreign reserves, which we aim to maintain at a comfortable level to support the country's international trading and transaction requirements. in terms of governance, the bank was able to leverage the oversight and expertise of its full nine - member board of directors. last year, the board endorsed the bank's strategic plan 2024 - 2027, which charts cbsi's direction for the next four years ; in it, we aligned our shared vision of cbsi as " a modern central bank empowering development of solomon islands " with the key mandates stipulated in the cbsi act. the bank currently has a dedicated workforce of 165 staff, up from 148 in 2022. we strive to be an equal - opportunities employer, with females comprising 41 percent of the workforce. we also continued to actively encourage capacity - development and 7 / 8 bis - central bankers'speeches wellbeing programmes for our staff, with the goal of enhancing skills, enriching knowledge,

". real sector the largest impact that the global economic crisis has had on solomon islands has been the reduction in our log exports. 2008 saw record levels of production from the forestry sector with 1. 5 million cubic meters of timber being exported. this accounted for around 16 % of gdp. the global economic crisis led to reduced demand for raw materials particularly in asia. the slowdown in china, the destination for around half of solomon islands'logs resulted in a decline in our timber industry. for solomon islands, logging has not only been a major contributor to growth but has also been our major export earner, an important source of employment and a crucial contributor to government revenues. the decline in logging that the crisis provoked has hurt the country. as the global economic situation recovers so we see a clear upturn in log exports. second quarter results are up and the bank predicts further increases in the third quarter. it must be remembered however, that the contribution of forestry to the solomon islands economy are numbered. we are destined to see a terminal decline in the industry due to the unsustainable rate of harvesting that has occurred. it is predicted that non - plantation logging will be fully exhausted in 4 - 5 years. in spite of any action we can take, the country will experience severe economic challenges as this industry declines unless new sources of growth can be found to take its place and take its place quickly. another industry that has declined in the first half of 2009 is copra. copra is an important industry in solomon islands because it is the major cash crop in many rural areas. strong world prices in 2008 generated record production in solomon islands. since the third quarter of 2008 however, world prices for copra have sharply declined resulting in substantial falls in production. second quarter output was 45 % lower than that recorded in the same period last year. the flooding that solomon islands experienced in the first half of the year has further affected copra production. one major constraint on the growth of the copra industry in solomon islands has been infrastructure weaknesses. problems in shipping and storage mean that even during the peak last year copra export levels have remained well below potential. the fishing industry has also seen a subdued start to the year. this probably has more to do with domestic factors than with the global economic crisis. the first half of the year has seen one company cease fishing activities as part of its strategy to restructure and focus on processing. poor fishing conditions have compounded this problem and magnified the