one whose statute, rules and procedures expressly state its commitment to the principles of islamic shari ’ ah and to the banning of the receipt and payment of interest in any of its operations. as you are aware, the current regulatory regime does not permit financial institutions to engage in islamic banking. to close this gap, bank of uganda has proposed amendments to the financial institutions act, 2004 to permit the licensing of and transacting by financial institutions in islamic banking in uganda. the proposed amendments to the law were submitted to the finance minister for consideration by cabinet and subsequently parliament for enactment. this amendment will bring uganda in line with other eac member countries that have licensed islamic banking and finance. it will increase the depth, breadth and range of finance products bank customers can use to access banking services. let me conclude by wishing you once again happy celebrations. it is now my pleasure to invite hon ali kirunda kivejinja to address the congregation. god bless you all. asalaam aleikum, eid mubarak, eid mubarak, eid mubarak

, gtz / sida, for their assistance in the process of formulating the 5year financial markets development plan, as well as the consultants who facilitated the process. the major goals that the plan will seek to achieve are ; harmonisation of regulatory frameworks in the financial sector, infrastructure development, increase in investor base, deepening the financial market, capacity building, supporting regional integration, promotion of cost effective financial intermediation and promoting market information dissemination. the specific areas of emphasis will include ; to bring the unregulated market participants into the regulatory ambit. this will involve reforms in legal and regulatory frameworks as well as liberalisation of the pension sector, to foster competitive, long term financing. another challenging area that the plan is expected to address is extending financial infrastructure beyond the urban areas, so that the rural areas can also enjoy the benefits that financial markets offer. extending financial outreach will be enhanced by the introduction of new institutions, products, services and payment systems in the rural areas, to ensure that the rural population is enabled to save and to participate in investments in the financial markets. the bank of uganda is already contributing to this effort by licensing new banks, in order to introduce greater competition, with the hope that this will encourage the banks to extend their presence to the unbanked rural areas. i expect many other non - banking financial institutions such as insurance companies, microfinance institutions, securities exchange, etc. to follow suit. government will also be encouraged to divest its interests in the remaining parastatals in which it maintains ownership through public offerings in the stock exchange in order to widen the ownership of these institutions to the majority of ugandans. the other crucial aspect which the 5 - year financial markets development plan is expected to address, is financial literacy. it will be difficult to see through the various initiatives proposed in this plan, if the population remains financially illiterate. the fmdc, through its sub - committees, is expected to educate and sensitise the public about the various financial markets programmes, in order to make the ugandan financial market vibrant, so that ugandans can benefit from regional and global integration. in order to realise the objective of transforming and modernising the ugandan financial markets, i urge the fmdc and its subcommittees to rededicate and commit themselves to the achievement of the objectives enshrined in this plan. i realise that what lies ahead of us is no mean task, however, since we have already taken