. and this means a lot! this means creating a bank from scratch. and creating a central bank from scratch is not an easy task in terms of the relationship with the political power, 3 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches in operational terms, in terms of creating credibility, in terms of bringing together a team. and i think that this point needs to be emphasised because it is a very important achievement by yves mersch. after that, yves mersch joined the board of the ecb, and he is one of the individuals we count on heavily at the ecb, for three reasons. first, because he is very important for ensuring the smooth running of the infrastructure that is critical for the working of the economy, for everything concerning currency issuance, everything concerning payments, and the major advances that have been achieved. second, he is very important because he is in charge of the legal department, a critical department for ensuring central banks ’ independence – in fact more than just independence – central banks ’ obeyance to their ultimate objective. and third, as head of the legal department he is an important ally for us in the national central banks in order to preserve our independence where there are temptations to reduce this independence. to be clear, the temptation to reduce the independence of the central banks is not only a characteristic of, i would say, the southern countries. there are nordic countries that have the same temptation. this means that wherever the treasury is, there is also the temptation to take it. and it is not only a question for the portuguese people or others : put the money somewhere and the temptation will arise, it may be sooner, it may be later, but it will arise. yves mersch is a key man for us, for our activity, because he is in charge of the department that gives us the sponsorship that is needed to continue with our activity without any risks, i. e. institutional risks. and institutional risk is a big risk that central banks are now facing : if you look to the united states or to europe, you ’ ll see that the political and monetary centres have different perspectives. to have someone in the legal department who knows very well which way is best is very comforting and reassuring. so i give the floor to yves mersch, thanking him very much for the role that he plays in ensuring the independence of the eurosystem and ensuring that central banks at national level are in line with the commitment that we undertook in the maastricht treaty.

mobile banking giving access to banking services to needy segments of the population in villages throughout the country. the mobile bank is today a legacy. bank of baroda also made significant contributions towards financial literacy and commercial education. a couple of years later, habib bank joined the bank of baroda in this mission, followed by the state bank of mauritius ltd. a centenary bank has past successes. however, it cannot afford to be complacent about its success stories. a centenary should also be an occasion to look at challenges ahead. the world today is fiercely competitive. innovation, creativity and re - engineering should be on the business agenda of our banks. our banking sector should be always on its toes and tap new markets. the banking sector will be faced with stronger competition by the end of this year with the opening of three new banks, which have been granted banking licences last year. also, as part of the outfall of the honourable prime minister ’ s visit to china, we expect a chinese bank to be part of our financial landscape before long. the sector is becoming more and more competitive and consumers can only stand to gain in this process. as the regulator and watchdog of the banking sector, we at the central bank shall keep an eye on developments to ensure that credit standards are not lowered, that depositors ’ interest are safeguarded and that our reputation as an international financial centre is not at risk. our consumers expect no less from its central bank. mauritius enjoys cultural and economic ties with asia and africa and offers huge potential for the provision of banking services in the region. i strongly urge our banks to take full benefit of opportunities that lie ahead. islamic financial services are being introduced. in this context, i will shortly be meeting with the islamic financial services board of malaysia to discuss the adherence of the bank of mauritius to this international standard setting body comprising regulatory and supervisory agencies worldwide which have interest in enhancing the soundness and stability of the islamic financial services industry. i believe that the time is now right to envisage a suitable currency exchange system between our two countries. there has been significant expansion in trade and tourism between india and mauritius. i understand that around 50, 000 tourists from india are expected to visit mauritius this year and that 20, 000 mauritians would have travelled to india. this measure will avoid the inconvenience for travellers having to convert their indian rupee banknotes into a foreign currency first when travelling to mauritius and secondly, to reconvert them into