technology investments to the value of that data. • tie information technology investments to factors that provide strategic value. • understand the business issues that affect the organisations you serve to the point that they become second nature. • develop expertise in areas of business so that you can better contribute to the enhancement of the various business functions in your organisation through the application of information technology. • remain in a continuous state of dialogue with various areas of the organisation to facilitate shared learning that can eventually translate in the deployment of information technology in a manner that is in line with the organisation ’ s strategic directions. • capture the value of information technology - related projects, and adjust these projects wherever necessary, to ensure that they deliver promised value. • create a learning environment where the information technology function and other areas of the organisation provide feedback to each other which is then used to inform information technology action plans that are intended to provide strategic value. • consider the business implications of systems. how could the technology be used to execute / enable important business processes? in closing, i wish to reiterate my expectation that the presentations, deliberations and workshop over the next five days would equip you with greater insights that will enable you to bis central bankers ’ speeches contribute to your organisations making better use of their existing and future information technology investments. best wishes for fruitful deliberations. may your stay here with us be a happy and memorable one! to our visitors i trust that you will use every opportunity to experience the warmth of guyanese hospitality. welcome once again to all of you. i now declare this 22nd conference of regional central banks ’ information systems specialists open. bis central bankers ’ speeches

base societies. a new feature of the industry involves the establishment of contributor - based societies. the achievements as mentioned earlier, the savings and loan industry in papua new guinea today consists of 20 savings and loan societies. five ( 5 ) are provincial based while the rest are industrial based societies. total assets of the industry were approximately k172. 8 million with loans and advances forming about 48. 74 % of total assets at end june 2004. members ’ savings deposits were about k133. 8 million from 127, 276 members. the overall health of the industry is satisfactory. capital, asset quality and liquidity are satisfactory, while earnings are relatively fair. a. capital adequacy the capital of the industry is satisfactory. accumulated profits increased from k12. 9 million in june 2003 to k21. 9 million in december 2003 and slightly decreased to k20. 8 million at end - june 2004. however, capital funds to total assets increased to 18. 9 % from 12. 4 % in the same period last year. the capital of the industry is not threatened by non - performing loans ( npls ) as npls as a ratio of capital funds improved from 30. 0 % in june 2003 to 10. 8 % in june 2004. b. asset quality asset quality of the industry is satisfactory. loans and advances increased to k85. 9 million in june 2004 from k80. 5 million in june 2003, of which only 4. 6 % of the loan portfolio is non - performing. provision to total loans decreased to 4. 2 % in june 2004 from 7. 0 % in the same period last year. however, provisioning level is sufficient to cover up to 89. 8 % of non - performing loans. c. earnings earnings of the industry are less than satisfactory. net income decreased to k2. 7 million in june 2004 from k4. 8 million in june 2003. return on assets decreased to 3. 0 % from 6. 2 %, while net interest margin decreased to 3. 0 % from 3. 6 % in the same period last year. this is due to decline in treasury bill interest rates, where most of the industry ’ s unlet funds are invested. d. liquidity liquidity is adequate to cover for day - to - day liquidity requirements. liquid assets decreased to k32. 9 million in june 2004 from k41. 4 million in june 2003, while loans to deposits increased to 64. 2 % from 58. 9 %