and what role can economic research play in fostering such growth. transformational growth is a long - run phenomenon, which involves at its core the structural transformation of the economy, the basic premise being the repositioning and reallocation of economic activity across the broad sectors of the domestic economy. for the majority of caribbean countries, these sectors are services, primarily tourism and financial services, and to a lesser extent manufacturing, mining and agriculture. in the case of barbados, the government has articulated a national digitisation strategy to transform the economy. the aim is to build a new economy that is knowledge - intensive, technologically driven, and that promotes innovation, creativity and inclusiveness. indeed, technological advancements are fuelling the pace of digitisation of the global economy, 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches which represents the greatest potential to drive transformational growth through changes in the economic structure of production. we at the bank recognise that changes in technology are transforming the way financial institutions are interacting with their customers. in particular, the impact of technological advancements on financial regulation and supervision should be an area of research focus, as central banks must adapt to these changes and engage with key stakeholders to ensure the appropriate safeguards are in place to manage the inevitable risks that the new developments present. we must also conduct more micro - based studies to develop a deeper understanding of the behaviours our societies. the initiative to reduce the use of cash is a prime example of how such research can help us better understand the payments landscape in our economies. the goal of structural transformation and ultimately the realisation of transformative growth must be inclusive. this means that everyone benefits from or shares in the income and wealth generation when the economy expands. from an economic perspective, research on the strategies that increase total factor productivity, competitiveness and economic diversification within and across economic sectors are essential. finally, our research must examine how we can reduce the unsustainable use of natural resources to ensure that natural disasters and climate change do not put the prospects for transformational growth at risk. the seminar programme reveals an interesting mix of research papers, the launch of the 2019 financial stability report and a barbados economics society discussion forum on the effectiveness of the bert programme. on behalf of the central bank of barbados, welcome once again and i wish you fruitful, stimulating and enjoyable seminar over these three days, and may we all be inspired to conduct more research that transforms our economies. thank you. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

of oversight of the board of directors of banks, mainly by ( a ) ensuring that only reputable and competent persons sit on these boards and ( b ) requiring that the members fulfill their responsibilities towards policy making for their respective banks. foreign direct investment in the banking sector was made more viable ; and since liberalization, large numbers of reputable foreign shareholders have invested in locally incorporated pakistani banks. at the same time several foreign banks have opted to operate in pakistan in branch mode as well. one of the most recent positive development is the entry of largest chinese bank icbc in pakistan that started operations earlier this year. since capital of a bank provides the buffer against unexpected losses, it is essential for any bank to have adequate capital to survive the ups and downs of a business cycle and to bear exogenous shocks successfully. the capitalization of the banks has been enhanced steadily over the years. the minimum paid up capital ( net of losses ) was set at rs. 1 billion in 2003, increased to rs2. 0 billion by 2005, rs6. 0 billion by 2009, and rs. 10 billion to be achieved by 2013. in addition to minimum capital requirement ( mcr ), sbp also adopted internationally accepted solvency standard of basel i in 1997 ; and the revised standard of basel ii has been enforced since 2008. under this regime, banks have to maintain a capital adequacy ratio of 10 %. the ratio is calculated keeping in view the risk profile of a bank ’ s assets, with an ultimate objective to ensure that banks carrying higher risk assets should be required to hold more capital. over the years the monitoring of banks and dfis has also improved. the on - site inspection and off - site surveillance has increased the level of supervision of sbp. electronic information gathering has made oversight timely and consequently more effective. the sbp also undertook massive capacity building during the late 1990s and early 2000s to upgrade the level of expertise of its officers. merit - based recruitment, competency - enhancing training, performance - linked promotion, and induction of skilled human resources are now regular feature of sbp ’ s corporate strategy. the imf and world bank in their banking sector assessment of 2004 state quote : “ far reaching reforms have resulted in a more efficient and competitive financial system. in particular, the pre - dominantly state - owned banking system has been transformed into one that is predominantly under the control of the private sector. the legislative framework and the state bank of pakistan ’ s supervisory capacity