by management and the board of directors ; • clearly defined policies, procedures, and delegation of authority ; • comprehensive risk measurement and reporting systems ; and • adequate institution of audits and other systems of internal controls. further, the bank of zambia recognises that accounting, auditing, and disclosure play a crucial role in enhancing financial stability. for instance, accounting standards provide the foundation for the production of credible financial statements and other disclosures that communicate a firm ’ s operating results, overall health, as well as raise the transparency of its various operating activities. on the other hand, disclosure of reliable information facilitates market discipline, engenders confidence, and reduces the possibility of rumours and misleading information that could cause market instability. disclosure of information however, should not compromise proprietary data, but must be flexible enough to accommodate future advances in risk management. such outcomes therefore, have obvious implications for the supervisor ’ s ability to oversee the safety and soundness of financial institutions. the foregoing notwithstanding, the bank of zambia has made significant progress in strengthening the supervisory approaches and risk management guidance to banks and non - bank financial institutions. it is for this reason that the bank will continue to attach great importance to risk - based supervision, accounting and auditing standards, so that the financial statements produced by banks and non - bank financial institutions convey adequate information about their risk management activities to key stakeholders, such as, shareholders, creditors, depositors, and any other interested parties. these are daunting challenges. nevertheless, i am certain that as our accountants and bank supervisors acquire more expertise, new ways of viewing risks and reporting them in financial statements would be devised. as such, financial and supervisory reporting will become even more critical to the existence of efficient financial markets as well as effective supervision of banks and nonbank financial institutions. as i conclude, ladies and gentlemen, i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge the support of other institutions during the preparation of this workshop. to this effect, i wish to thank standard chartered bank, pricewaterhousecoopers, kpmg, deloitte and touche, grant thornton, the zambia centre for accountancy studies and zicab tuition centre, for having agreed to provide resource persons for this workshop. with these few remarks, it is now my honour and privilege to declare this workshop officially open. i thank you.

in barbados can take a valuable lesson from this. it would not be easy to estimate the labour – income ratio for the entire industry in barbados ( as data may not easily be available ). what i can suggest is for each firm to do its own analysis. one is assuming here that the average manufacturer operates with factors of production consisting of labour ( including management ) and physical capital. a company may estimate value added in its operations by netting out purchases of inputs from other firms from total sales. after that if it is a simple issue of estimating the proportion of income that goes to pay wages, including the cost of absenteeism and fringe benefits. each firm may then be able to roughly determine where it stands with respect to the labour – income ratio yardstick. in conclusion, one could say that prospects for the traditional manufacturing products are weak. only certain niches could survive and the industry needs to create more niches. one can note that the jamaican jerk food industry has caught the imagination of north america and europe to such an extent that jerk meat products are gradually becoming standard fare in many restaurants in these areas. it is even difficult to obtain some of the leading jerk products in jamaica because of the high demand by foreigners. the barbados manufacturing sector should be ready to diversify product lines and markets, including export markets. some of the larger firms have already tightened their operations, shed labour and re - visited investment plans. there are indications that finance is not a major constraint. the central bank ’ s own financing schemes are under - utilized. nevertheless, available evidence points to about 30 % delinquency rate among small and medium - sized companies which access funds to finance their operations. in order to ensure uninterrupted availability of finance, it may be necessary to provide basic accounting skills to companies in the sector so as to keep the proportion of companies which are unable to service their debts to the minimum.