offers faster prospects of internationalization. caribbean economies have realized that they can accelerate development of their services sector even before the manufacturing sector matures. this is certainly the case with some international financial centres ( usually termed “ offshore centres ” ) whose manufacturing sectors had not yet reached the levels of sophistication of many developed countries, but whose services sectors have grown exponentially. barbados, bahamas, bermuda and cayman are well - known examples. support services are very critical to the development of the services sector in the caribbean. business services, telecommunications, information technology and computer based services influence the ability of many service economies to deliver cross border services and are critical to the building of a vibrant international services sector. we are happy to say that the caribbean is beginning to benefit from the liberalization of the telecommunications sector and the results are already obvious in terms of lower operational costs of business. we have also observed that in the current global environment, there is a clear shift away from physical product - based wealth accumulation to knowledge - based wealth accumulation. professionals with the flexibility to adapt to the changing environment can provide the catalyst needed to propel the caribbean to higher sustainable growth paths. at the same time, growth of our services sector has the potential for greater employment because of the labour - intensive nature of service activities and offers the possibility for small - scale operations to expand rapidly by drawing on the potential linkages with the other sectors of the economy and with the rest of the world. electronic commerce is also providing opportunities for caribbean companies, since it does not recognize size as a constraint. it allows service providers in the region to offer services in foreign jurisdictions with greater ease, though admittedly, it also permits foreign professionals to offer services in the region as well. this means that local providers have to step up their game, since technology has already outpaced the ability to protect domestic service providers and is forcing the internationalization of service markets. in fact, services are becoming the most traded item on the internet. this mode of service delivery while giving developing countries like the caribbean an advantage, will not be a give away since it does not take the competition away. because of the traditional perception that developed countries do it better, the quality of services provided by the caribbean will need to be superior to that provided by develop country operators. this will require a massive investment in education and training by our universities, colleges and corporations, since many professional services allow for provision without a presence there are possibilities for expansion in overseas markets at low costs. no

movements in overseas markets will be required. these are some of the challenges and opportunities i see facing the services sector and especially the financial corporate sector as it attempts to grow. this first decade of the 21st century promises therefore to be an exciting one for the caribbean provided if we are willing to grasp the many opportunities presented and provided we are not side tracked from our goal of keeping up with the front runners. we cannot afford to fall behind. i trust that over the rest of this conference our deliberations will help to confirm our resolve. thank you.