that of royalties, reviewed by the sheshinski committee. i support the committee ’ s approach, the aim of which is to find a way of dividing the gas profits between the entrepreneurs who search for and find the gas and israel ’ s citizens. in this context i refer you to what i said when the committee ’ s recommendations were published and i stand behind the views i expressed then. the gas discoveries raise a related issue, known as the dutch disease. i have stated in the past that in my opinion the right way to deal with the problem is the norwegian model, in which the royalties and the relevant government ’ s tax revenues are invested in a sovereign fund. the fund invests its income abroad, and the government ’ s income from this investment is more stable over time, and the fund moderates the short - term effect of the gas income on the exchange rate, an effect that could prove disastrous for the tradable goods industries, as happened in the netherlands and other countries. i would now like to introduce the next speaker. dr jihad al - wazir, governor and chairman of the board of the palestine monetary authority ( pma ), was born in 1963. dr al - wazir obtained his ph. d. in business administration from loughborough university in the united kingdom, and in the past served as deputy minister of finance and acting minister of finance in the palestinian authority. relations between the bank of israel and the pma under dr al - wazir ’ s leadership are marked by effective and productive cooperation, and i hope that they will continue to be so.

ahmed naseer : financial inclusion within the maldives keynote speech by mr ahmed naseer, governor of the maldives monetary authority, at the 35th asian bankers association general meeting and conference, hosted by the bank of maldives, male, 16 november 2018. * * * asian bankers association chairman, mr. daniel wu ; managing director and ceo of the bank of maldives mr. andrew healy ; distinguished experts and participants ; assalaamu alaikum, and a very good morning to you all. it gives me great pleasure to have this opportunity to speak at the 35th asian bankers association general meeting and conference. i am very pleased to be here today, in this unique gathering, bringing together industry players and financial experts from every corner of the asia region. in fact, the theme of this conference speaks to the heart of the imminent challenges that central banks are facing today : how will the digital revolution transform the economic and financial landscape? how can we gain the potential socio - economic benefits of the financial technology or fintech, while mitigating possible risks? ladies and gentlemen, while innovations in the financial sector are not new phenomena, the speed and broad consequences of these innovations have drawn our attention in recent times. the rapid improvements in computer technology such as quantum computing, innovations in cryptography, big data, artificial intelligence and the increased use of mobile phones have taken the traditional banking industry to a whole new level. it has enabled financial institutions to be in the financial lives of their customers at any time, any place, using any device or channel. in a nutshell, financial services are at our finger tips. in a few years from now, it is possible that the millennials and future generations will not see the need to step inside a bank during their lifetime. fintech has not only reshaped customer experience. it has paved the way for achieving financial inclusion, especially for a geographically dispersed country like the maldives, to break geographical barriers and reach underserved populations within the islands. with the nation - wide telecommunication coverage and high mobile penetration in the country, these innovative payment solutions have the potential to reduce cash usage and achieve financial inclusion in the country. at the end of last year, we reached an important milestone in advancing financial inclusion within the maldives. both telecommunications service providers now deliver easy and secure access to mobile payment services across the country. as a result, we have seen a significant increase in the volume and value of transactions being processed through mobile wallets. this mainly stemmed from the increased extent of the