of the digital transformation of the payment space has been the implementation of the mauritius central automated switch ( maucas ), a state - of - the - art digital platform for routing payments among operators on a 24x7 basis. this innovative digital platform makes banking, e - commerce and mobile payments interoperable and encourages cashless means of payment. fintech firms can leverage on this platform to provide value added services and provide banks with opportunities to collaborate with providers of emerging technologies. 2 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches as part of the digital transformation of the economy, the bank is also developing an infrastructure to integrate all government payments to support digitalisation of government services. the work has progressed satisfactorily and the relevant testing has been completed. we intend to formally launch the project soon. to facilitate further instant payments, the bank has also introduced a national qr code earlier this year. branded as the maucas qr code, it is designed to be fully interoperable hence allowing the public to make payments at any merchant location. on the cross - border front, the bank has already made significant progress to enter into bilateral agreement with payment schemes of jurisdictions with which mauritius has strong commercial relationships. a first project has been initiated with the national payment corporation of india for retail payments through rupay cards and mobile phones. the project is well on track. ladies and gentlemen, the evolution of the banking sector needs to be accompanied by changes in the relevant legislative and regulatory frameworks to capture new trends and at the same time protect customers. in november 2020, i established a multilateral fintech committee comprising various agencies to chart a roadmap for the financial industry to embrace fintech and adapt the regulatory framework accordingly. we have been updating and revamping our frameworks to align to the new environment we are operating in. we continue to ensure that the legislations and regulations are regularly reviewed and amended to reflect changes in line with the new environment in which we operate. one such innovation relates to the licensing of digital banks. at the full height of the pandemic in 2020, the bank was empowered to license digital banks, that is, banks which can carry on banking business exclusively through digital means or electronically. thereafter, the bank put in place, with the assistance of the imf, a conducive licensing and regulatory framework for digital banks in mauritius and issued its guideline for digital banks in december 2021. in line with best international practices, the bank

that goal by first adopting the simpler approaches of basel ii. i hope i have given you a broad background in these introductory remarks to set the stage for the seminar. i am confident that close cooperation by various stakeholders and specialized resource persons including creditors, regulators, risk management strategists, financial analysts and credit risk modelers, will go a long way to make for the efficient and productive implementation of basel ii in mauritius. to that end, this seminar represents an important contribution and i take the opportunity to praise kpmg once again for taking the initiative. i thank you for your attention.