you will all agree that we are living in a time where the world is becoming rapidly smaller due to technological change. the speed at which information and bis central bankers ’ speeches money can move across borders continues to be enhanced, even in our smaller economies here in the pacific. therefore, collaboration between the securities regulators of our countries, sharing of information and knowledge and just learning from one another, has to form a vital part of our market surveillance. intervention and institutional oversight by the designated securities regulators in our respective countries is a necessity for the sustainability and efficient operation of our securities markets. in fiji, this responsibility falls on the reserve bank of fiji. we have the mandate of maintaining a stable, sound and internationally reputable financial system, which from 2009 included the securities market. while our financial institutions and banking supervision framework and expertise have progressed alongside global banking sector developments, the expertise required to deliver effective supervision in our securities market is not as mature. this, in the main, has to do with the developmental pace and conditions of our securities market. as a result, market surveillance has been reactive rather than preventive. i believe that i speak not only for fiji, but for many of our smaller fellow nations as well, in saying that the technical topics which will be addressed over the next five days will further develop our supervisory expertise and help harmonise our surveillance standards with the more developed economies. managing and containing risks is key to our market surveillance. the increasing complexity of investment products and the potential threat of people “ beating the system ”, and its ramifications on market stability, provide ample rationale for financial institutions and supervisory bodies to accord greater attention to risk - management practices. for supervisors, an appropriate risk - based supervision framework is essential to enable us to keep up with the dramatic changes in the risk profile structure of the product market and risks assessment of financial institutions. focus areas of the seminar ladies and gentlemen, the next few days will provide exciting learning and networking opportunities for all participants and we are fortunate that we have with us presenters and speakers who are highly qualified and well experienced in their respective organisations. you will be identifying and discussing the latest developments in the regulation of market intermediaries within the asia - pacific region. a critical part of any seminar is the sharing of your own experiences, views and ideas. i urge you to discuss the issues widely and utilise the tremendous experience of your resource people who have taken time out to be here. it is important that we keep abreast of changes

in us, japan and australia, which are fiji ’ s major markets for these products. overall, a marginal adverse impact on exports is expected from the global slowdown. • impact on imports : a relatively weaker domestic economy may also weaken the import growth. this may be most evident in the import of intermediate goods, mainly oil, and other investment goods. lower prices of commodities in the international markets will also help weaken import growth for other food items, such as wheat, rice and dairy products. crude oil prices : in the first 10 months of the year, oil prices have averaged us $ 108 per barrel. since its peak of us $ 146 in july, oil prices have since declined, currently around $ us58 per barrel. strong demand from emerging economies like china, combined with supply disruptions, geo - political concerns, the weak us dollar and speculative demand amidst the us financial crisis have underpinned the movements in oil prices. prices are anticipated to remain high in the months ahead. • impact on tourism and remittances : while there are mixed views on visitor arrivals, there is a mild possibility of a slower growth next year in line with the economic slowdown envisaged in our major tourist markets. this in turn will lower tourism earnings without any compensatory increases in per diem expenditure. if the asian destinations are affected, they may respond aggressively with discounts – if fiji were to compete accordingly with them, yields for the domestic industry could be affected further. remittances may also be affected, given that the labour market conditions in the advanced economies will be affected. nevertheless, it is important to note the remittance already started declining in before the financial crisis started in 2007. therefore, this financial crisis could exacerbate the decline in remittances flows. • impact on foreign direct investment : most of the foreign investments are financed, in large part, through loans from external banks and other institutions. the tight global liquidity conditions could restrain foreign borrowing to finance investment in fiji by non - residents, as well as residents. as a result, fdi into fiji may be affected negatively. on the other hand, non - residents could also withdraw their existing investment and re - invested earnings to meet their offshore financial or liquidity needs, especially by offloading, say real estate investments in fiji. • impact on exchange rate and competitiveness : the us dollar is generally perceived to be the safest of currencies and is in high demand in