destruction to the environment, there is a need to strengthen the governance of the economic returns ( revenue ) obtained from the extractive industry. this ensures that the investor, government and landowners receive a fair share of the economic return from the resource. doing so, it would also entail striking a balance between respecting traditional forms of land ownership and enabling economic development through largescale infrastructure and commercial projects. furthermore, having in place good governance structures on these extractive resources ensures the financial returns are saved and invested to benefit both the current and future generations. and if i may add, it is an opportune time for the government to explore the possibility of establishing a sovereign wealth fund or similar vehicles, to accumulate buffers and use it during the rainy days. this fund can be reinvested to earn interest. 5 / 8 bis - central bankers'speeches third, we must make good use of the most precious resource at our disposal : our people. given current demographic trends, we are at the point of entering a period of demographic dividend, in which the working - age population continues to expand relative to the economically - inactive age groups, and is increasingly able to finance both the education of our children and the caring for our elderly. this demographic gift is however easily squandered : only in the presence of appropriate employment opportunities for our youths will we be able to fully reap the rewards of our medium - term demographic destiny. the risks, as we know, are high, for example, an under - employed youth is a restless one. as our population continues to increase, we are also faced with the prospect of rising tides of rural - to - urban migration, which could easily overstretch the infrastructure in our urban centres, as currently experienced, and drain our rural communities of vitality and economic opportunities. the question of how best to leverage and employ our abundant labour must therefore be paramount in our minds, and more especially the government needs to come up with a policy to engage and cater for the working - age population as we chart a path forward. in this regard, i'd like to thank the australian and new zealand governments for providing additional employment opportunities to our working - age population through the seasonal workers scheme, the pacific australia labour mobility ( palm ) scheme and the recognized seasonal employment ( rse ). this has acted as a stopgap measure to absorb excess domestic labour, while also benefitting our country through rising remittances [ 2 ] and productivity spill - overs

. the country is happy to supply up to 100, 000 workers for both australia and new zealand. however, it is imperative that any sustainable growth strategy for our country must rely on the expansion of domestic economic opportunities. hence, the need for economic reforms. and to do that, again it's important that the government provide a conducive environment for businesses to thrive and attract genuine investors, at the same time expand economic sectors to broaden the economic base in order to provide more employment for the working - age population. cbsi stands ready to support the government of the day in this regard by ensuring that macroeconomic conditions in solomon islands are conducive to growth and stability. ladies and gentlemen, during our consultation with the stakeholders in the private sector, two factors routinely emerged as major constraints to growth and employment : ( i ) a shortage of skilled labour, and ( ii ) the unreliability and inefficiency of domestic infrastructure. the former is of particular importance for all of us in strategic terms. growth will not magically materialize from a rising number of working - age people in our country ; rather, it will depend crucially on the skill level of that workforce, and on their ability to find suitable employment. it is therefore essential that our education system keep up with rising domestic demand for skilled labour, and that our healthcare system ensures the health and well - being of our people. we believe the government can contribute to this by continuing to step up its efforts at promoting a healthy life - style, strengthening the fight against ncds and ensuring that every individual has access to a healthy and affordable diet. 6 / 8 bis - central bankers'speeches for the infrastructure, the private - sector actors are calling on the government to step up investment in infrastructure and its maintenance, ensuring also that it is climate resilient, in order to forge more reliable domestic supply chains and facilitate intra - and inter - island movement and trade. better infrastructure would also place solomon islands more firmly onto the global tourism map. in terms of financial infrastructure, cbsi is committed to providing an ever more enabling environment for financial development, and to actively champion financial inclusion as we inch ever closer to reaching that'last mile '. recent technological advances, especially in the fintech space, have brought us closer to that goal than ever before, thanks to increasingly agile payment infrastructures and savings devices. as some of you may be aware, that cbsi recently launched the go - live solomon islands automated