tourist arrivals from china at 4, 087 was just 0. 8 percent of total arrivals. in 2010, the figure rose to 18, 147 or 2. 9 percent and further increased to 24, 389 or 3. 6 percent in 2011. the latest figure for january to march 2012 is 5. 2 percent. with the increasing trend in arrivals from china, we know that such an alliance will be beneficial to china unionpay and bsp. bis central bankers ’ speeches card policy ladies and gentlemen, the reserve bank issued a press release on thursday last week upholding the “ no surcharge rule ” for credit and debit card payments in fiji. this extends to all merchants and all cards used in fiji and will be effective from 1 november 2012, allowing a necessary transition period for banks to roll out awareness and merchants to review their existing practices and procedures. the “ no surcharge rule ” is already in place as stipulated by major credit card providers in agreements with banks and contained in agreements between banks and merchants. i hope that this announcement will make shopping in fiji more transparent, convenient and attractive for our visitors from china. so whether you pay by cash or credit card, the price is the same. we look forward to compliance by the commercial banks and merchants in the implementation of this policy. the fijian economy let me take this opportunity to say a few words about the fijian economy. based on economic activity for the first six months of 2012, overall performance has been on track and the projected growth of 2. 7 percent for the year remains intact. however, we still need to be mindful of developments in the global economy and any likely impact on our trading partners. inflation in fiji was 4. 0 percent in july. this is lower than the inflation rates in the previous months. the decline is due to lower commodity prices and current benign domestic driven inflationary pressures. as a result, we still expect the year end inflation to be around 3. 5 percent. the level of foreign reserves is currently just under $ 1. 6 billion or adequate to cover 5 months of retained imports of goods and non factor services. we are currently reviewing economic data and the next official update on the economic variables will be during the 2013 national budget announcement. conclusion in conclusion, i take this opportunity to thank the chinese government for its continuing goodwill and willingness to engage in closer economic ties with fiji. i also extend my best wishes towards this partnership between china unionpay and bank south pacific. this

in terms of assets. while islamic finance still constitutes a small share of the industry, roughly 1 per cent of overall global financial assets, it has witnessed a rapid expansion over the last decade, with annual growth rates in the range of 10 – 15 per cent. it has also gained further momentum following the financial crisis. islamic banking accounts for about 80 % of total islamic financial assets but the development of islamic securities, notably the sukuks, has also contributed to increasing this sector ’ s activity in international capital markets. the industry has seen a wide dissemination across countries, beyond its traditional centres of gravity in the middle east and south east asia. according to available estimates, islamic financial institutions are currently operating in around 70 countries. europe has also been part of the process, with the opening of islamic banks in the uk, the issuance of a sukuk bond by a german land, an increased activity in the field of islamic investment funds, some tax and regulatory changes introduced in france to facilitate the use of islamic financial products. bis central bankers ’ speeches this global expansion is expected to continue also in the near future : some market estimates foresee that by the end of this year islamic financial assets will have reached 1. 9 trillion dollars. several factors underlie growth in this sector : the need to invest the abundant liquidity acquired by oil exporting countries ; the search for risk diversification and for shari ’ ah compliant / ethical investments ; the increased need for funding for socio - economic development in islamic countries ; and support from regulatory and supervisory authorities. part of this trend can also be attributed to the growing interest in the industry coming from non - traditional markets, like the eu, the us, south korea, hong kong, etc. in banca d ’ italia we are interested in deepening our knowledge of this subject, in view of its relevance for the bank ’ s institutional duties, as a member of the eurosystem and as the authority for banking and financial supervision in italy. a seminar on islamic finance was organized here in 2009 and a collection of research papers on islamic finance vs. conventional financial systems, focusing on supervision and the implications for central banking activity was published in 2010. hosting this ifsb seminar is a fruitful occasion to further improve our knowledge and to share it with our financial community and academia. the opportunity to attract foreign capital to underpin economic progress, on the one hand, and the intensity of the commercial and financial links with the southern shores of the mediterranean, on the