, the government adopted a socioeconomic strategic assessment, and then approved a series of government decisions to adopt directions of action in response to various issues, and to integrate them into the detailed work plans of the ministries, and into their budgets ( decision 145 ). the strategic issues that were defined were : cultivating and maximizing human capital, productivity and competition, financing infrastructure, housing strategy, regional economic development, preparedness for the aging of the population, and “ digital israel ”. an analysis of the performance of all items in the government decisions in the various fields, which was done by the national economic council in the past few months, shows a positive picture in the performance of most of the decisions. these are mainly decisions to create the frameworks and processes, such as establishing teams, presenting and formulating programs, and progress reports to various forums. of course, the most important test will relate to the formulation and implementation of detailed plans, and achieving the targets over time. at this stage, it is too early to assess the extent to which they will be realized. examples of issues that require a strategic plan that were included in the government decision in 2015 human capital — as early as the israel 2028 plan, the area of education and professional training was identified as a main component in providing the basic values and skills required in the modern labor market. this is one of the areas where the importance of a strategic plan is clear — a plan that formulates targets, defines work plans for achieving them, and allocates budgets is essential in order to achieve an education system that is tasked with providing values, abilities and skills that will enable its graduates to deal — as workers and in 2 / 6 bis central bankers'speeches general as citizens — with the challenges of a changing labor world, for many years to come. the low achievements and the gaps in scholastic achievement and in the abilities relevant for the labor market are constantly being raised by the findings of pisa and piaac tests. despite the increase in the average number of years of schooling, literacy, numeracy and functioning in a digital environment among the adult population in israel — at all levels of education — are lower than those in most of the advanced economies, and the situation is no better among students. the need to deal with low abilities and skills is also shown by an analysis of labor productivity trends in israel relative to the other advanced economies, and by productivity and wage gaps between various groups. improvement is needed in the education system and in professional training

northern africa countries joining us lately. allow me to extend my sincere appreciation to the vice governor maja kadievska vojnovic and to igor velichkovski, head of the payment systems department within the nbrm for successfully turning this conference into a truly international one. over the years, delegates from central banks of 30 different countries have attended the conference. this growing international attendance makes particular strength of the conference showcasing diverse experiences from very different areas of the world driven by the common interest in payments and market infrastructures. equally appreciated is our domestic audience that continues to valuably contribute to the conference each year. focusing on current issues in the payment systems, the conference agenda is each year carefully designed to cover the latest trends and feature the main challenges in the area. variety of interesting topics has been on the menu so far including the european payment landscape and legislation with a special focus on psd and psd2 ; topics related to payment systems and payments oversight ; the eu payment integration initiative known as single european payment area ( sepa ) ; then, innovations ; security and efficiency of retail payments. we have elaborated 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches on instant payments, financial inclusion and accessibility of payment services, financial structures resilience and many more. this year ’ s agenda covers themes related to digital banking, cryptocurrencies and their regulation, the new technologies such as dlt and blockchain – all of them being topics of considerable relevance at the moment, and will only become more important over time. bracketing this jubilee edition we had the pleasure of hosting many distinguished speakers from various affiliations starting from central banks, through relevant international institutions, commercial banks, clearing houses and custodians etc. we express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to all speakers and conference delegates for the great impact you make, keeping the conference alive and growing. the engaging social events are another important hallmark of the conference as they make an excellent opportunity to network and reconnect and finally to amuse and entertain. moreover, ohrid, the home of the conference, a charming city surrounded by water and mountains, known as a jerusalem of the balkans and protected by unesco for its natural and cultural heritage, is a unique experience by itself. as we celebrate our 10th jubilee we are proud to be able to host a conference that certainly evolves into important meeting place for the payment system community in the region and beyond. this success would not have been possible without the wholehearted support of our