practices. standards focusing on capital adequacy and solvency and key areas of corporate governance are now an integral part of the insurance regulatory framework in place for all insurance firms and brokers operating in the kingdom. the establishment of international standards and their implementation has bolstered bahrain ’ s reputation as a regional centre where sound practices prevail. this has encouraged many insurance and reinsurance firms to choose bahrain as a base. the central bank of bahrain has also put in place a framework allowing for the establishment of captive insurance firms. this initiative by the cbb is the first of its kind in the middle east region, aiming to fulfill the insurance needs of major industrial, oil, and service firms that seek to establish their own insurance companies. bahrain succeeded in 2006 in attracting tabreed company as the first captive insurance company, licensed in the gcc. the lack of a specialised centre in the region aimed at fostering the development of the captives market led to the cbb ’ s initiative in this regard. furthermore, bahrain has also attracted takaful and retakaful insurance businesses, who are benefiting from the well structured regulatory environment. the cbb benefited from its successful experience in the field of islamic banking, supporting the successful implementation of sound regulatory framework for takaful businesses. there are several common areas shared by takaful and islamic banking. in addition, the cbb identified the need by islamic banks to transact with takaful firms to meet their insurance requirements. bahrain is a founder and an active member in many of the islamic financial standards committees. these committees are a reflection of the market realities and the need for change in an evolving industry. there is a strong demand by clients for takaful products, at a time when firms rendering such services in the arab market are still relatively few. ladies and gentlemen, the theme of today ’ s conference is of special significance considering the global challenges faced by the arab insurance markets to integrate, and work towards consistency in legislations. it also lays the foundations for insurance companies to enter new markets and stimulate integration to pave the way towards one arab insurance market that is capable of competing globally. i am grateful to bahrain ’ s insurance community for its substantial contributions and sincere efforts, and again wish to thank the organizers and participants in this important conference wishing you all successful and fruitful deliberations to further contribute in developing the integration of the arab insurance industry.

in turn, speeds up income. it also makes financial products and services accessible to a greater number of people, which in turn, enhances financial inclusion. in october last year, the bsp launched the digital payments transformation roadmap. our goal is to shift from a cash - heavy to a cash - light society, where at least half of financial transactions are done digitally. by 2023, our other goal is that at least 70 percent of the adult population should have financial accounts. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches it is worth noting that in the wake of the pandemic, financial transactions coursed through digital platforms instapay and pesonet rose dramatically by 155. 4 percent and 22 percent, respectively, in may 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020. last year, more than eight million electronic money accounts were created. we expect more as the bsp approves the license applications of incoming industry players. the establishment of digital banks will bring about greater efficiency and extend the reach of financial products and services among the unbanked, including msmes. we have also taken steps to allow for more extensive use of qr codes for payments. last april, we extended the payments use case of the qr ph to include person - to - merchants or p2m. compared with using point - of - sales terminals, qr technology presents small merchants with a simpler and more affordable payment facility. the bsp also supports the philippine id system or philsys because this will address the lack of identity documents which is among the most common barriers to account opening. to help us spread the gospel of financial inclusion and digitalization, we recently partnered with our youth, and hopefully, made enthusiastic ambassadors of them. we held our first - ever bsp youth summit last july 9 with the theme, “ ibangon natin ang ekonomiya, i - digital mo na! ” more than 38, 000 registered for this livestream event, which garnered more than 30, 000 views on facebook as of july 21. eleven youth organizations signed statements of support for our digitalization and financial inclusion agenda. this makes me hopeful that our youth — like you, our dear stakeholders — are strong partners in bringing our services closer to the filipino people. as we make our way toward the new economy, we should be able to transform old ways into sustainable, green ones. so, we start within our own backyard. the bsp launched its internal sustainable central banking program,