rundheersing bheenick : the role of international trade and trade finance address by mr rundheersing bheenick, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the presentation on afreximbank to the mauritian business community, port louis, 16 june 2009. * * * good morning ladies and gentlemen it is with great pleasure that i welcome you all today to this presentation of the afreximbank. i extend a particularly warm welcome to dr oramah and mr chafa. this is a critical element in what might be called our frontier expansion policy, creating extended links between the core role of a central bank and the wider pastures of trade and the real economy. last month at about the same date, the bank was co - hosting the first seminar of the islamic financial services board in mauritius. today ’ s event is the fruit of the collaboration of our two institutions, afreximbank and bank of mauritius. on the occasion of a board meeting of afreximbank held in mauritius in december last, i had drawn the attention of the president and chairman of the board of afreximbank, mr jeanlouis ekra, on the lack of awareness about afreximbank ’ s programmes and facilities by the business community and i had expressed my views on how a knowledge of afreximbank ’ s products could represent a useful tool in the promotion of market and product diversification of our trade. i am extremely delighted that the president of afreximbank has responded positively to my request and i convey my heartfelt thanks to him. today ’ s event gives me the opportunity to share with you a few thoughts on the role of international trade and trade finance, especially in the context of the current economic turmoil, and as paul krugman has put it in his seminal book “ the return to depression economics ” ; that “ malign neglect ” of the “ shadow banking system ” that has led to the “ loss of traction ” of the central banks in steadying the real economy in the storm. international trade over many years, we have seen that most countries have progressively opened their economies to international trade, either through the multilateral trading system, increased regional cooperation or as part of outward - oriented domestic reform programs. we have gone beyond the system with the third world being merely the exporter of raw materials and the importer of manufactures. international trade nowadays backed by the internet has created the efficiency for raising standards

rundheersing bheenick : positive developments in mauritius against the background of the financial crisis address by mr rundheersing bheenick, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the annual dinner in honour of economic operators, port louis, 5 december 2009. * * * i am delighted to welcome you all to the annual dinner in honour of our principal economic operators, to celebrate a year of fruitful collaboration and to reflect on the critical elements for sustaining this effective partnership. we are delighted that his excellency tito mboweni has accepted our invitation to be our special guest tonight. the great tito was until recently governor of the south african reserve bank and is now a committed fisherman. well may i say he is a great catch for us tonight. i first met tito mboweni as governor designate in davos in the margins of a world economic forum meeting in february 1999, when i had the honour to accompany my prime minister as a minister in his cabinet. i have gained much from this illustrious man who shared with me glimpses of his vast and rich career. i must confess that my first meeting with him as governor was even more memorable. it happened in washington during the imf / world bank annual meetings in october 2007. it was as close to a telling - off as a governor ever gets from another governor : “ my brother governor from mauritius ”, tito said drily, “ i understand you have been on the job for nearly a year now … but you haven ’ t found the time to pay us a visit or to take an interest in our work in sadc ”. i was cut to the quick by this stinging remark, especially as i had actually played a key role in getting mauritius to join sadc in the first place. i am a quick learner and i learnt my lesson. governor, you will be pleased to know that i currently luxuriate under the additional title of chairman of the comesa committee of central bank governors. and i had the singular honour to chair the commonwealth meeting of central bank governors in cyprus and report on our work to the plenary meeting of commonwealth finance ministers. indeed, some claim i have learnt my lesson too well! some complain that i have taken the regional and international dimensions of the job so much to heart that i am hardly ever here. now as governor mboweni steps from the limelight and has plans to pursue his great love of fishing, i invite him to elect mauritius as his second home, so that