with the size and nature of the work, investment policy, compliance with the financial solvency standards, and allocations of necessary technical provisions to ensure health and soundness of the companies ’ financial positions. it is imperative that the insurance industry remains competitive by developing and providing insurance products and services to the satisfaction of customers at all times. dear audience, we expect the insurance industry to continue to improve its performance and achieve balanced growth in accordance with corporate objectives and available resources. we also anticipate the industry to meet the needs of the market and beneficiaries to increase their confidence in the insurance activities. it is important that insurance companies strike a balance between the size of business and geographic expansion, and human and financial resources and operating infrastructure. i would like to conclude the speech by emphasizing the importance of the insurance sector with respect to employment and training of male and female citizens through paying more attention to the development of human resources and training policies and increasing saudization. sama has designed a compulsory exam on the basics of insurance activities to measure employees ’ competence and insurance providers ’ awareness of insurance fundamentals including laws, regulations and standards. companies are required to organize vocational and technical development programs to raise insurance awareness and help provide qualified manpower to serve the insurance sector and the country well. thank you for your attention. i wish you all a successful symposium. bis central bankers ’ speeches

able to draw on the pool of talent in the bank as we launched different initiatives in several directions simultaneously. the very first task - force that i set up completes its mandate today with the launch of the mpc. there are several others still at work on a range of issues such as the strategic review i just mentioned, the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the bank, the move to the new headquarters, the review of our approach to retail forex trading, and one on such a mundane but serious issue as the flooding of the bank ’ s vault. looking down the line, we have on the drawing board our move into islamic banking services which constitute a global business opportunity. we can rapidly roll out a new financial product and service, with some re - engineering of our approach to banking regulation and supervision to make it possible. in the next few weeks, we have a training programme, organised jointly with deutsche bank, for our own staff and also for staff from commercial banks, to pave the way for our move to full conformity with basel ii principles. both regulators and regulatees will be given the same training to ensure they are on the same wavelength. and later this week, a joint bank of mauritius / mauritius bankers ’ association delegation leaves for east asia as we make final preparations to introduce the cheque truncation system. this will reduce paper processing, speed transactions and reduce their cost, and make us all cheque - users a little bit more efficient and productive. as you can see, we have many balls up in the air. our vision is clear. our goal is set. we continue the exciting journey of modernisation with renewed determination. we do not have the luxury of time. this time round, we do not want to wait another 13 years to do what must be done. the future does not belong to the hesitant. we must get on with the job, come what may. to achieve all this, we need resources. we require new blood. and this is the reason why the bank has recently advertised for a range of positions for such openings as bank examiners, research officers and communications manager. the response has been very good, indicating that the bank has a good reputation and enjoys credibility as an employer. allow me to conclude by making two specific observations. first and foremost, let me point out that this first mpc meeting is not an interest - rate - setting meeting. today the mpc will discuss the operational aspects for the conduct of its future meetings, take