the nerds ”, technology is rapidly redefining the way financial institutions compete, do business and interact with their customers. from online and mobile payments to biometric authorization, the rise of cloud computing means many more financial transactions can be done faster, automatically and at lower cost. financial technology companies like pay pal and xoom resemble banks, but are not. yet they are changing the ways in which people borrow and save, pay for things, buy foreign exchange and send money. technology giant google is making serious inroads into financial services with the introduction of a new payment system called google wallet. these global forces will fundamentally change the profile of jobs in finance in the coming decade and beyond. at the central bank, for instance, we have a growing demand for specialized financial supervision skills in anti - money laundering, specialty insurance, actuarial science, cyber security and operational risk. as financial services professionals it may be of interest to you, to know that almost 15 per cent of central bank ’ s new employees since i assumed office are in the area of financial supervision and another 10 per cent are in economic research. i have sought to build capacity in strategic areas to ensure we fulfil our economic and financial stability mandate. as the country look to the future, we must ensure we are generating the right skills to stay relevant and competitive. in thinking about how to generate the breadth and depth of skills, i believe we can draw lessons from the actions policymakers usually take when managing a financial crisis. three distinct remedies are usually applied to a financial sector in crisis : recapitalization programmes, measures to boost liquidity, and a sober look at how the financial ecosystem should work in the future. as a starting point, trinidad and tobago needs to be able to draw talent from a bigger pool than it currently has in the financial services industry. recapitalization is needed to draw out the talent that currently remains untapped. here we should quickly leverage our trinidadian diaspora community. many of us have a narrow definition of the diaspora as those born in the country but presently living outside the country. however, if we include others with historical links to trinidad and tobago, our diaspora becomes at least 360, 000 strong, consisting of highly skilled workers, graduates from colleges and universities, management and other professionals. we need to find ways to fully tap into this potential labour pool for human capital and financial investments. second, in the same way central banks took steps to increase liquidity in

the financial system, we must do better to ensure we have the necessary labour mobility to match supply more easily with demand, both within our borders and from other parts of the world, including the caribbean. too often, we hear of the difficulties that finance and other professionals have in moving to another country where their existing qualifications are not recognized. indeed, i have heard one highly successful trinidad businessman lament that it is far easier for him to bis central bankers ’ speeches hire a security guard from nigeria than to employ a financial analyst from nigeria. at a time when skills shortages are acute, such barriers cannot be allowed to remain. we need to consider creating a common framework for skills recognition that gives employers and employees the confidence they need to move more freely across borders. third, we cannot rely on emergency measures alone. in the longer term, we need to review the financial architecture that governs skills and human capital, if we are to avoid breakdowns in the future. we must develop a strong ecosystem that puts programs in place to address the financial skills gaps before they become critical. as we seek to build a knowledge - driven economy, tertiary education must play an increasingly important role in enhancing the country ’ s human capital base. tertiary education imparts knowledge and highlevel skills as well as provides basic and applied research needed to support innovation and entrepreneurship. in trinidad and tobago, the government assistance for tuition expenses ( gate ) programme has expanded access to tertiary education by making it more affordable. an average of some 53, 000 students have benefited annually from this programme over the past five years. total expenditure on gate is equivalent to one - tenth of the total recurrent education ( secondary and tertiary ) budget over the same period. it is not only the level of gate spending that is important but also the effectiveness of that spending, which needs to better aligned to economic priority areas and to future skill needs. it may interest you to know that 70 per cent of gate funding is concentrated in just a few areas – management, educational services, data processing / it, engineering, health services, natural and pure sciences, and accounting. finance, of course, is one economic priority area. at the central bank, we are helping to build this financial eco - system through two major initiatives. over the past decade, we have partnered with de la rue, our currency printers, to offer the annual, prestigious de la rue scholarship to students pursuing post - graduate studies in economics. this year, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we