maintaining financial stability and safeguarding financial integrity of a jurisdiction, to more micro ones, including consumer protection, without compromising on technological developments. our partnership with the oecd can only provide more credence to our jurisdiction as an international financial centre of repute and will, at the same time, strengthen and facilitate adoption of international best practices. under the agreement signed today, we shall cooperate in key fields covering a wide spectrum of economic and financial sector policies. in the long term, this initiative will not only be confined to cooperation but will also provide a range of exciting network opportunities for our benefit. it will build the capacity of the regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies in our region. i look forward to witnessing the relationship flourish over time and becoming a reference in our region in the elevation of african specialists in the financial services and law enforcement fields towards excellence. ladies and gentlemen, i need not remind you of the numerous challenges over the past few years, ranging from the covid - 19 pandemic to geo - politically inflicted global inflationary environment, and more recently to some financial market turmoil in the us and europe with the onset of financial trouble in certain us banks. as such, as regulators, we need to comprehend that we are at the epicenter of seismic shifts in macroeconomic and macro - financial environment and that these changes have implications on our work. these events are reminiscent that we are in need of continuous adaptation in order to survive the new rules of the game in a new world economic order. being ahead of the curve is the norm. it is crucial for us, regulators, to uphold the public good and to deliver on our sociallymandated goals with panache by taking cognizance of all scenario - based challenges as well as by being adequately equipped with the appropriate toolkits for dealing with those challenges. in this realm, i can positively confirm that, through its rich program delivery over the past few years, the rce has ceremoniously assisted regulators in the region in taking cognizance of these manifold challenges. the rce has organised various workshops in the past year in a number of topical areas, including financial technology, climate change and combating financial crime, to name just a few. developments in these fields are taking place at breakneck speed and are consistently plaguing the regulatory landscape with new insights that were hitherto outside the purview of regulators. the rapid inroads of technology and blockchain innovation into the payments

harvesh seegolam : keynote address - grant agreement keynote address by mr harvesh seegolam, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the signature of grant agreement between the regional centre of excellence and the organisation for economic cooperation and development, balaclava, 18 may 2023. * * * dr. carmine di noia, our special guest from the oecd, director of finance and enterprise affairs, oecd first deputy governor of the bank of mauritius and chairperson of the fsc second deputy governor of the bank of mauritius director general, independent commission against corruption chairperson of information and communication technologies authority board members of the bank of mauritius board members of the financial services commission chief executive of the fsc chief executive officers of industry associations chief executive officers of banks and other institutions members of the rce governing board members of the press ladies and gentlemen all protocols observed good afternoon it gives me immense pleasure to address this forum today for the signature of the second grant agreement between the regional centre of excellence ( rce ) and the organisation for economic cooperation and development ( " oecd " ). i am deeply honoured to witness this momentous event as chairperson of the governing board of the rce. the gratification i have in seeing that the rce, an institution, the setting up of which was done by me in my then capacity of ce of the fsc, in 2019 is living fully to its expectations is even more overwhelming. i would like to congratulate the rce team on their dedication to establish the institution as a reference in our region. the genesis of an rce for the region is found in the 2018 / 2019 budget. at that time, the creation of a regional centre of excellence was announced with the objective of strengthening and supporting effective regulation, sound corporate governance and good conduct in the southern and eastern african regions. this was followed by the signature of a memorandum of understanding between the government of mauritius and the oecd in september 2018. the rce was launched in april 2019 and is the first of its kind institution to collaborate with the oecd on the african continent. ladies and gentlemen, 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches capacity - building institutions abound in the world. but very few are tailored to the pragmatic elements that are pertinent to the work of financial regulators and law enforcement agencies. the latter often has to grapple with a number of complex objectives, ranging from macro - objectives, namely :