we must close the gap that has worsened over more than a decade, and achieve productivity gains that can be shared with workers. ongoing reviews of the incentive regimes for private investment are necessary to ensure that the overall thrust of government policy continues to provide incentives for investment in foreign earning activities and in green energy solutions. also, we should ensure that incentives that have served us well, such as duty free imports of computers, are maintained, and that any remaining inconsistencies in the incentive regime are removed. the bottom line barbadians remain firmly in charge of our own destinies, and we have the resources and talent to realise a path to a future of greater prosperity. that path does involve some tough challenges : in too many areas we are not up to speed with the finest services and products that are on offer in the industrialised world, and outmoded and inefficient processes will need to be discarded. our own collective decisions on the timing of these inevitable changes will determine the extent of our economic success, and the speed with which we are able to improve the livelihoods of all barbadians. faster growth increases the size of the pie to be shared among everyone ; that must be our focus. bis central bankers ’ speeches

relative development of our business and financial markets, local internet penetration and international connectivity. the quality of life in barbados is high, attested to by the human development report, published by the united nations development programme ( undp ). in recent reports barbados is credited with high human development, an indication that in terms of what our salaries will buy, as well as educational and health status, barbadians live as well as people do in some advanced countries. we have all but eliminated dilapidation in housing, access to electricity, water and sanitation is universal, and homelessness has been reduced to a level that many rich countries would envy. we have our very wealthy, and our poor people, but on the whole we are a remarkably egalitarian society. our economic performance the barbados economy runs on foreign exchange, as i have often said. we live quite well, by international standards, by selling the goods and services we produce at competitive prices for bis central bankers ’ speeches foreign currency, and using that foreign currency to import everything we need for our modern lifestyles. our main focus is therefore always on the activities that earn us foreign exchange : tourism and related activities, international business and financial services, and rum, chemicals and a few other manufactured goods. there is one sector where we have the potential to increase output without the use of foreign exchange, and it is in the energy sector. every day in barbados we produce far more energy than we could possibly use, but almost all of it is completely wasted, because it is in the form of heat generated on our roofs and other surfaces that absorb and reflect the sun ’ s rays. we currently harvest a small amount to heat water. however, affordable photovoltaic systems now provide an opportunity to businesses and middle class households to generate all their electricity needs. of course, we would need a means of supplying electricity at night. it has been shown that with a combination of solar and wind energy, plus biofuels and storage, barbados could become self - sufficient in electricity generation. it is an opportunity we cannot afford to pass up. barbados ’ tourism is rising to the challenges of the 21st century. the barbados brand is highly regarded, and developments in the sector have largely enhanced the quality and appeal of the barbadian tourism product. the visitor experience has been enhanced by top quality sports, dining, shopping, music, culture and heritage. our visitors are in search of authentic experiences, and we continue to enrich our offerings in ways that are