, our intention is to apply the ‘ same risk, same regulatory outcome ’ approach in the uk. the government has announced its intention to legislate in the current session of parliament to update the powers of the bank of england and the financial conduct authority to regulate and supervise stablecoins. we hope to issue a consultation document on the regulatory policy framework later this year. taken as a whole, the uk authorities have made clear that they are prepared to see stablecoins – issued by either banks or non - banks - operate in the uk, provided they are properly regulated and supervised [ 9 ]. this should not, however, be interpreted as any weakening in standards for risk mitigation. i doubt any of the stablecoins currently in operation in other jurisdictions would meet the necessary standards for operation at systemic level in the uk – whether in the crypto world, should that become systemic, or in conventional financial services. and this brings me to my final lesson – that innovation and regulation are, in the end, friends not enemies. as i said earlier, the initial use cases for the technologies developed in the crypto world, such as speculative crypto assets, may have a limited future. but we can see that a range of other use cases are being proposed and developed in both the crypto and the non - crypto world. on the retail side, while libra / diem, the most high profile proposal for stablecoins for retail payments, including cross border, has withdrawn, a number fintechs and established firms are exploring the potential for technology in this area. similar exploration around tokenisation and dlt is happening in the area of wholesale payments. a separate but rapidly developing field is the deployment of crypto technologies and smart contracts in the exchange, clearing and settlement of financial securities. today, in mainstream finance these activities are carried out in sequence by separate entities at significant cost. however, some of the protocols that have begun to be developed in the crypto world have pointed to the possibility of collapsing these activities into a single entity and automating through the use of smart contracts. if successfully developed, such technologies could simplify the network of relationships that need to be maintained for trading in shares and bonds and lead to lower costs, greater speed and greater transparency for end investors. of course, the automation of activities through a smart contract raises many questions about how firms and regulators ensure appropriate risk management and resilience. in the uk, the authorities are to establish a

that both the large manufacturing and sme sectors grow organically through the forces of interdependency. there is no substitute for economics of scales and the smes due to smallness of their size cannot excel in it and harvest its benefits. this makes their integration with the corporate sector more vital. i would urge upon the smeda and other government sector organizations involved in the sme policy formulation to take up this challenge of integrating smes with the corporate sector. let me conclude by restating the fact that smes will continue to play a very important and vital role in our economy where the twin problems of unemployment and poverty constitute major development challenge. well targeted government intervention in this sector remains indispensable provided such interventions do not displace the private sector. given the quality of participants in the conference, i am convinced that useful policy recommendations will emerge at the end of the different sessions. i thank you mr. president once gain for vision and leadership in the economic revival of this country and your personal support to the state bank of pakistan. i look forward to your guidance in creating an enabling environment for the promotion of smes in the country.