, central banks can also contribute to greening the economy. in principle, all areas of activity within our competence can be adjusted to become greener. at the bank of lithuania, we believe that in order to change the world, we must first change ourselves. sustainability is one of the strategic objectives of the bank of lithuania. our goal is a green bank and sustainability in all areas of our activities, be it public procurement or the financial assets investment portfolio of the bank of lithuania, which we are restructuring to completely meet all the principles for responsible investing. regarding external sustainability, the direction of the bank of lithuania that is pointed towards greening of the financial sector, i would like to mention some priority areas that contribute to attaining our goals. 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches first, it is necessary to effectively manage risks related to climate change and elements of sustainability. i mean the environmental, social and governance risks that are usually referred to as the esg. both the physical climate risks of draughts, floods and other similar cataclysms, and the risks related to the period of transition towards a new model of sustainable economy must become an integrated part of the financial stability monitoring efforts. the second objective is integrating the esg risks into the supervision of financial market participants, by identifying climate change - related risks that are relevant to them and by integrating the green aspects into all the stages and actions of supervision. it means that the green criterion will be considered when conducting business model analysis, assessing compliance with the capital and liquidity requirements, stress testing and in other supervision exercises. moreover, one of our priorities is making sure that funding is available, sufficient, and focused on greening the real economy. particular attention must be paid to the small and medium - sized firms, the smes, which are the backbone of our economy. finally, the monetary policy. two months ago, the european central bank concluded its review of the monetary policy strategy. one of the outcomes of the review is a strong commitment of the european central bank to continue integrating climate change aspects into the monetary policy framework. it means that sustainability will be included into monetary policy operations in fields of information disclosure, risk assessment, collateral framework, and asset purchase programs. nevertheless, sustainability is a new field for central banks that poses many challenges. that is why i highly look forward to hearing the remarks by a colleague from the central bank of the netherlands, a member of the governing board, olaf sleijpen, on standardising climate change

diversification should be our overwhelming policy objective. as indicated in the government ’ s vision 2020 strategy, diversification should be pursued through the creation of new businesses producing high - end goods and services that are globally competitive. this strategy imposes responsibilities on the state as well as on the private sector. i am certain that over the past few years, both the state and the private sector have taken important steps towards setting the basis for economic diversification. however, as i saw somewhere, “ an international crisis is a terrible thing to waste ”, the implication being that we should convert our current mis - fortunes into an opportunity to finally diversify the economy, while some energy sector revenues are still forthcoming. what are the primary obligations of the state in respect of economic diversification? at the macro - economic level, government ’ s role is the provision of the public goods and services that are essential to the growth process. thus, the focus should be on the improvement of our economic infrastructure – specifically roads, water, electricity, ports and so on. government has indeed announced sizable investment programmes in these areas, starting this fiscal year. government has also been paying great emphasis on education and training. hopefully this emphasis would serve to create a culture that institutionalizes continuous learning and a “ can do ” attitude which is critical for an environment conducive to innovation. the government also has responsibility for maintaining an enabling environment. while there are several elements under this heading ( including macro - economic stability ), “ business facilitation ” is one that requires particular attention. based on data from the world bank ’ s study doing business 2010, compared with other countries in latin america and the caribbean, trinidad and tobago fares rather poorly as regards the time required to set up a business ( to get the necessary approvals and permits etc. ), and as regards enforcing contracts. many of our competitors have overhauled business registration procedures with the use of online systems, for example. many of our competitors have established efficient “ one - stop ” shops to reduce cumbersome bureaucracy. the greater use of the electronic payments methods, updated bankruptcy laws and more efficient property registration procedures would also help certainly reduce the cost of doing business. the government has made efforts at trade facilitation – specifically through the conclusion of several free trade agreements and double taxation treaties. however, from the data available, the expansion of trade under these agreements has been limited to date. as for the private sector responsibilities, you business people know that creating and