equipment so that your productive bases are sustainable. as a country, we are blessed with land and water resources. however, it is only in the recent past that we are beginning to see the value of what we have through improved agricultural output. we have the capacity to become a regional breadbasket and this is something we must explore wholeheartedly. it is important to note that there are predictions of a looming worldwide shortage of grain. in italy, the cost of wheat has increased significantly to the extent that, in protest, people boycotted eating pasta for a day. with our natural resources, this is an agricultural avenue that we ought to explore. however, i must hasten to state that concentrating on agriculture alone also bears a risk as it is prone to the vagaries of weather. so whilst we have been able to reap well in the past, we must also consider diversifying into other economic sectors. mr. chairman, i have in mind sectors such as gemstone mining, tourism and manufacturing. the luangwa region is said to be an area abundant with precious stones. however, we do not appear to have concerted efforts aimed at formalizing the process of explorations in this area. with regard to tourism, the eastern province has varied fauna as well as abundant wildlife and thus has the potential to become a leading tourism zone. furthermore, the eastern province provides a gateway to the export markets in malawi and mozambique. this presents an opportunity for the manufacturing industry to explore what goods and materials are on demand in the two countries. we know for a fact that a great deal of trade is already conducted with the two countries. the completion of the mchinji railway project must therefore be expeditiously dealt with. as a country we need to seek more export ventures in terms of products and markets. it is important to note that by november 2007, year - to - date non - traditional exports had increased by 25. 6 % to us $ 845. 1 million from us $ 672. 7 million recorded during the corresponding period in 2006. our statistics show that burley tobacco and cotton lint have had a significant contribution to the non - traditional export figures in the years 2005 and 2006 ( although indications are that for the year 2007, the figures will be lower after farmers opted to plant maize given the lower prices offered for their tobacco and cotton produce ). ladies and gentlemen, with the improved economic activity in eastern province, we have noted an increased demand for cash through the

in turn have dramatic implications for e. g. funding costs. bis central bankers ’ speeches differences between the proposals of independent commission on banking and highlevel expert group “ the difference in the location of the ring - fence is important,... ” john vickers has made very insightful comments on the compatibility of the proposal of his group, the independent commission of banking with the proposal of the high - level expert group. i have a few comments on this theme : – icb and hleg proposals started from different directions ; the approach taken by icb started from the narrow banking philosophy, whereas hleg focused on the most volatile parts of banking business. however, the groups ended up with qualitatively similar proposals. – as john vickers has stated already, the main question as regards the position of the ring - fence is “ where should securities underwriting be ; in the investment bank ( such as in icb ) or in the deposit bank ( as in hleg )? ” another difference is that icb ’ s proposal includes geographical restrictions as non - eea customers cannot be served by the deposit bank. this highlights the focus on the viability of the uk banking sector in the icb. – hleg is based on the view that underwriting is closely connected with corporate banking and thus naturally belongs to the deposit bank. from the corporate client ’ s perspective, issuing a bond is an alternative way of financing to taking a bank loan. from the bank ’ s perspective, there are similar elements in both, because both involve a customer credit quality assessment, although in underwriting the bank ’ s own position taking is normally quite limited. – it is true that a promise of market making can be an important complement to a successful underwriting of a bond. however, separate entities within the bank group can well provide the underwriting and market making services without any additional cost to the customer. hleg did emphasise the importance that authorities require additional separation if that is needed to make the recovery and resolution plans credible, a measure that would bring the hleg separation proposal closer to the icb ring - fencing proposal. the proposals are also somewhat different with respect to the height of the ring - fence. the icb included restrictions on cross - ownership, for example. as suggested by the parliamentary commission of banking, tasked with the pre - legislative review of the bill, the ring - fence will now be “ electrified ” by giving authorities reserve powers to require full separation. “...