aspect that, therefore, needs to be addressed, in relation to the theme of the book fair, is the availability of appropriate reading materials. achieving a sustainable economic future requires the active participation of a dynamic private sector. such dynamism requires the availability of relevant and specialised reading materials. the agricultural sector, for example, is an important part of the zambian economy whose success holds the key to the rapid reduction in poverty that must be achieved if zambia is to take its place amongst the community of progressive nations. higher literacy levels in the rural areas will help to propagate better farming methods and conservation techniques. these are methods that contribute to sustained economic growth and protect the environment. master of ceremonies, ladies and gentlemen, the development of a reading culture in our nation should be placed high on the national agenda if we are to achieve a sustainable economic future as a country. i am aware of the initiatives that the government through the ministry of education has come up with to encourage reading at an early stage. the primary reading programme and the concept of reading tent by the zambia library service are some of the initiatives aimed at inculcating the habit of reading at an early age. other partners in development such as the private sector and our cooperating partners have also been active. important examples include the introduction of a reading bus by the british council. all of these initiatives will contribute positively to the development of the reading culture. they certainly are encouraging, but more needs to be done. particularly, the other key stakeholders who are parents and guardians of our school going children who should take interest in ensuring that children develop a culture of reading and writing. ladies and gentlemen, in closing my opening remarks, i wish to point out that currently most zambian publishers are pre - occupied with the development and publication of core school textbooks where the market is readily available. i wish to challenge publishers to invest some of the profits in the publication of more diverse reading materials including braille, music and physical education books. as you may be aware, a literate citizenry is a key prerequisite for a sustainable economic future. it is now my honour and privilege to declare the 2008 zambia book fair officially open. i thank you all for your kind attention.

mar guðmundsson : the evolving structure of the post - crisis financial sector speech by mr mar guðmundsson, governor of the central bank of iceland, at the 3rd annual palm beach strategic forum, palm beach, usa, 8 april 2013. * * * i am both pleased and honoured to address you here today and would like to thank the organisers for giving me the opportunity to do so. this session is on global economic conditions and prospects. other speakers have covered the macroeconomic and monetary policy aspects of the topic. i will use my allotted time to focus mostly on the financial sector, but i promise to say a few words about iceland as well. there is, of course, an important link between the real economy and financial spheres. a broken financial sector is less likely to be able to finance the growth that we need. in many advanced countries, we are in the early phases of a deleveraging process where, to a varying degree, households, companies, sovereigns and financial institutions are – by force or by choice – reducing debt levels that have become either unsustainable or obviously too risky in the new environment. such generalised deleveraging can be a painful process, with a significant adverse effect on economic growth for a prolonged period, as former such episodes bear out. however, as i read the data, in many of our countries weak credit growth is due even more to limited credit demand than to supply. so if we were magically able to bring the financial sector back to full health and an optimal leverage ratio by tomorrow, we would not have solved the problem. significant debt problems would still exist for several sovereigns and several parts of the non - financial private sector. in addition, we would still have the confidence crisis that has been so pronounced in europe. so it is going to be a more protracted process. the eu has not resolved its crisis, although there has been progress in deleveraging and de - risking bank balance sheets. in september 2008, when i was still at the bis, i gave a speech in boston bearing the title : how might the current financial crisis shape financial sector regulation and structure? 1 i realise now how foolhardy that endeavour was because those were indeed early days. but still, many of the potential changes that i mentioned have stood the test of time, such as the inevitable deleveraging ; shifts in bank business models, especially on the funding side ; the need for bigger capital and liquidity buffers ;