and the potential implications for barbados. in addition, government may provide support for the private sector in strategic areas and activities. in the tourism sector, government has provided support measures to maintain tourism competitiveness in a tough market. it has negotiated to maintain airlift to barbados, it has joined with other caribbean countries to protest the inequity of treatment in the way the uk travel tax is being applied, and it has provided support and guarantees for private investment in a major tourism project. one area which still cries out for attention is support for refurbishment and upgrade of hotels, previously profitable, whose credit - worthiness has been weakened by the international recession. in the international business and financial sector government inevitably plays a leading role in expanding the network of double taxation treaties, and, in collaboration with the central bank and other regulatory agencies, in strengthening the oversight of the sector. the prospects for the barbadian economy are very good, but we must be patient, because little by way of economic activity can be done in barbados without a supply of foreign exchange. over - ambitious stimulus will merely eat into the country ’ s foreign exchange reserves, with no lasting benefit of jobs or income. we have no good option but to wait out the global recession, until the observed pickup in inward investment strengthens, and is accompanied by stronger inflows from tourism, international business and financial services, and other sources of foreign exchange. fortunately unemployment has increased only modestly, although many businesses are reaching the end of their tether after two years of insufficient cash flow, and there may be some worsening. however, we should not grow impatient just when the end may be in sight : tourist numbers are up, the uk market appears to have stabilised, and there is reason to be hopeful about the winter tourist season. barbados is well positioned to take advantage of the recovery when it comes. the country has a good name, we boast a diversified tourism product, and a business and financial centre that is grounded on a sustainable foundation of double taxation treaties and regulation that is constantly upgraded in accordance with the best international guidance. economic performance is overseen by an integrated arrangement for collaboration between government and the central bank, supported by our internationally renowned social partnership arrangements, as well as a range of formal and informal opportunities for discussion and dialogue. essential partners in these arrangements are the communications media, because they are the ones who convey the message to the individual barbadians, investors and tourists, whose decisions will ultimately decide the pace of economic expansion

control of risk on a group - wide basis. in that environment the rules and guidelines involved would be the same even though the responsibility for oversight may be different. the pace of implementation has been challenged recently by ongoing efforts of individual jurisdictions to reform their own national frameworks. for example trinidad has just passed a new fia and this would have been pre - occupying their attention. ) global and regional crises do not wait however until we are ready. recent new developments necessitate an acceleration of the pace of such work and ongoing events now spur us to reevaluate mechanisms to prepare regional approaches to responding to such problems. regional and national responses as we in the region collectively grapple with the current financial crisis, originating in the trinidad market we will continue to strengthen our own regulatory and supervisory frameworks at the national level. what we must not assume, is that because it happened in trinidad it must happen here. within recent times, several regional jurisdictions have had financial sector assessment program reviews performed by the imf, or aml / cft mutual evaluations by the caribbean financial action task force. in the barbados case, banking has traditionally received good ratings and findings were uneven as it relates to regulation in other sectors. the need for increased co - operation given the levels of financial integration globally, and notably, the growing systemic relevance of cross - border corporate groups, regulators are aware that they must look to enhance their cross - border relations particularly with respect to crisis management. at the last meeting of the caribbean regional central bank governors a decision was taken that the caribbean group of bank supervisors ( cgbs ) should develop a management protocol to deal with events like the one currently being experienced. the cgbs provided an outline of what such a protocol should include, but it remains a work in process and has been overtaken by events. the plan is to be submitted to governors for their approval in may 2009. one of the key lessons of the global crisis stems from the fact that in an increasingly marketbased and interconnected financial system, disturbances are likely to affect fundamental market mechanisms, such as the distribution of liquidity. this has cross - border implications. an adequate appreciation of these dynamics requires a systemic perspective for the analysis of financial stability which normally lies with the central banks, but clearly requires close interaction between central banks and other regulatory agencies. over the past few weeks as the barbados council of regulators met twice within the last 3 months – most recently last week – to discuss areas of mutual concern and to