they can be made affordable. importantly, the fact that policy initiatives in this area are supported by idb financing means that there is additional foreign exchange available to support the needed investment. among major projects being contemplated are a wind farm, a waste - to - energy plant, and the use of renewables such as bagasse. however, the process where the country is most advanced is solar generation. already a handful of businesses and individuals have installed systems, and gov ’ t has led the way with major installations at harrison ’ s cave and the ministry of transport and works. there is an opportunity here for retailers, banks and financial institutions to sell household systems, tied to the grid, on the basis of down payments and monthly payments that the middle class can afford. the quality of service there remains a major threat to barbados ’ competitiveness in all sectors, and it is our inability to guarantee consistently high standards of service in the private and public service. it is not enough that we should have examples of service excellence, and we do. what we really need is an average standard that is outstanding, by international comparisons, and a minimum standard that never falls below the acceptable. this is absolutely essential, because we compete on quality, not price. this is not the place to elaborate, but this is, i am convinced, the threat to the future growth and prosperity of this country. what about construction and other sectors? they cannot lead because they need foreign exchange to expand, and they do not generate any foreign exchange. so they must depend on the foreign exchange provided by tourism, bis central bankers ’ speeches the ibfs sector, agriculture and agro - industry, and on the foreign exchange saved from the use of alternative energy. strategies for the ibfs sector and role of central bank i am not the expert on the sector, but it is my understanding that the ibfs sector has had to reinvent itself on more than one occasion. it may be time for another reinvention, to address changing circumstances and opportunities in the international market. the challenges arise from the on - going need to upgrade our legal and regulatory framework, in line with international standards as well as those of countries with which we do business. barbados has begun to respond appropriately to these challenges, but we need to up our game in every case. i will touch on the global forum, the fsb, the fatf, and recent changes in the practices of the canadian revenue authority. the global forum the global forum has been set up

to provide a more transparent means of certifying that countries meet an agreed standard for the exchange of tax information and other related practices. former prime minister arthur played an important role in the initiatives leading up to the establishment of the forum, and barbados is a member. we are participating in an ongoing international process of country evaluation. we have had some stumbles, but it is my understanding that we are recovering from them. there are others in the room who can better elaborate on this than i can. the financial stability board ( fsb ) we have also made a positive response to the initiatives of the fsb, the body charged with coordinating the reform of the international financial system. we have prepared two studies which we have aired at regional and international meetings, on the importance of the ibfs sector to caribbean economies, and documenting the measures we have taken and are taking to ensure that our regulatory systems are kept up to marks with the guidelines published by international bodies. the papers can be accessed on the central bank of barbados website. we are also gearing up for our next financial sector assessment programme ( fsap ), more than a year away, and central bank and the financial services commission ( fsc ) will be engaging with you on this. financial action task force ( fatf ) with respect to the global forum and the financial stability board, we now have reasonably transparent international processes that we can work with. that is not yet the case with fatf. like the fsb, fatf is an exclusive members club which presumes to impose its rules on countries who are refused membership. both fsb and fatf have addressed this anomaly, in a fashion, by establishing regional advisory groups. we have been able to use the regional consultative group of the fsb to make the case for the caribbean, and the caribbean financial action task force ( cfatf ) is gaining momentum in protecting the interests of the region. in all three areas we need transparent processes by which countries may be certified as having achieved acceptable international standards. the canadian revenue authority changes and the need to diversify markets changes made recently redefine the competitive landscape in the canadian market, and the fact that tax information exchange agreements may now provide benefits similar to those available under double taxation agreements exposes barbados to competition from countries where there is no income tax. this matters a great deal, because so much of our ibfs bis central bankers ’ speeches business is concentrated in the canadian market. we must market the other factors that make