mauritian rupees for spending in mauritius. i believe that the flow of tourism between india and mauritius may be enhanced under a suitable exchange system between our two countries. bank of baroda can be called upon to play a prominent role in this respect. the application of a mechanism similar to this one has helped to maintain a steady and growing level of tourism between south africa and mauritius over the years. south african rand banknotes are today freely exchanged by south african travellers in mauritius. i now wish to commend the recent marketing initiatives of bank of baroda to make itself more visible in our banking industry. “ rapid funds2india ”, a service free of cost to the bank ’ s customers in mauritius and india, is a laudable effort towards lower cost of banking services. the bank has made substantial investment in it and its entire banking operations have now migrated to state - of - the - art it platform enabling global connectivity. it is a fact that technological innovations have today significantly brought down administrative costs. i strongly believe that such reductions in costs should be passed on to customers through lower fees and charges. in today ’ s world of financial globalization, banks can no longer limit themselves to geographical areas. i understand that bank of baroda ranks among the top 400 banks worldwide and they are not alone. two other indian banks namely, the state bank of india and icici are also performing very well. i again congratulate the bank of baroda on its 100th foundation day and wish it another 100 years of success. thank you for your attention.

i joined office as governor two years ago, i recognised that the potential of islamic finance to bring diversity to our financial markets, boost business opportunities, and exert a positive impact on the economy. i jumped on a moving train. the work had already started. in october 2005, government had set up a steering committee to explore the possibility of implementing the establishment of islamic financial services in mauritius. there was however some confusion about the “ aiguillonage ” and the destination. the first meeting was held under the chairmanship of the minister of arts and culture. after some time, he quite reasonably asked the ministry of finance to take over the chair. it began to look suspiciously like a game of musical chairs when, in june 2006, the chairmanship was passed on to the bank of mauritius. but the train seemed finally to be on the right track and heading in the right direction. a report was rapidly finalized in june 2007. this is when the challenge started for our small island. we had to chalk out a way forward to position our country in the first division of the islamic banking league. i am happy to say that in only two short, but eventful, years we have : ( i ) joined the ifsb as member – which crystallized after my very first meeting with the secretary - general, professor rifaat, when i attended the bis meeting in basel in 2007 ; ( ii ) brought the necessary amendments to domestic banking laws to accommodate islamic banking ; ( iii ) issued the guideline for institutions conducting islamic banking business in june 2008 ; ( iv ) approved in august 2008 the application for an islamic bank from two promoters, one from a group operating in the gulf and the other from a leading financial conglomerate in mauritius ; ( v ) approved the application from hsbc to operate an islamic window ; and ( vi ) embarked on a project to develop shariah - compliant money market products for the emergence of an active inter - bank money market for islamic financial institutions. shariah - compliant treasury and central bank paper let me say a word about this. we have in mind to introduce treasury and central bank paper which would be the equivalent of treasury bills / notes / bonds and bank of mauritius bills, but without the interest rate element attached, to make them shariah - compliant. such instruments will help banks offering islamic financial services to manage their liquidity. i understand that we may be among the first central banks to introduce such instruments for banks to park their excess funds or manage their