economy, and at the same time develop new foreign exchange earning activities, be they in services or in the manufacturing sector. about a decade ago we seemed to be well on the way to creating a platform for a strong non - energy economy. you will all recall that coming out of the collapse of the first oil boom, successive governments introduced a range of macro - economic and structural reforms that set the stage for the current economic expansion. specifically, trade liberalization forced several manufacturers to re - tool and modernize their operations to compete in a more open environment. the response of our manufacturing sector remains to this day a shining example of its ability to adapt to new challenges and opportunities, a point strikingly borne out by our dominance in the caricom market. some of our manufacturers went even further afield such that we can point to some international success stories in soft drinks, alcoholic beverages and [ chocolates – perhaps there are more ]. basically, however, the relatively small size of our regional market has limited our export expansion. under these circumstances, it would have seemed a logical next step to turn in the direction of latin america. but this strategy has not been pursued as vigorously as expected. the slow progress of the ftaa negotiations may also further constrain the ability of our firms to penetrate extra - regional markets. we are now seeing from the private sector a rather interesting response to our current oil boom. what are the main elements of this response? ( i ) a couple of our large firms have made a foray in the downstream energy sector ( and this is as it should be if more of the returns from our natural resource wealth are to accrue to the national economy ). ( ii ) more generally, however, the increase in private investment in the non - energy sector has been disproportionately in nontradeables – in services directed to the domestic market rather than to exports – in shopping malls and in other kinds of real estate. ( iii ) our private sector has also developed a tremendous appetite for foreign portfolio investment ( and i would return to this later ). in short, in the midst of this current oil boom, ladies and gentlemen, our export manufacturing sector seems to have lost its dynamism to the non - tradeable service sector ( real estate, distribution and retail franchising ) and to increased portfolio investment. ladies and gentlemen, this new phenomenon is clearly reflected in the current statistical indicators. in the years immediately following trade and financial liberal

the ofso remains the only financial ombudsman scheme in the caribbean and is a respected member of the international network of financial services ombudsman schemes. • of the 230 banking complaints which qualified for review under its terms of reference, the ofso resolved an impressive 98 per cent over the period 2003 – 2012. more than 45 per cent of these complaints, which were directed toward issues related to accounts transactions, card services and loans and credit, were settled within 90 days ; • of the 2, 076 insurance complaints which qualified for review under its terms of reference, the ofso resolved an equally impressive 97 per cent over 2005 – 2012. at least two - thirds of these complaints, mainly relating to undue delay in settling claims, inadequate settlement and denial of claims, were settled within 90 days ; • creation of the ombudsman ’ s office has catalyzed banks and insurance companies into strengthening their own internal dispute resolution mechanisms to better address customers ’ complaints. more than one - quarter of the complaints handled by banks were resolved by agreement between the two parties. in the case of bis central bankers ’ speeches insurance companies, more than two - thirds of the complaints were resolved by agreement between the insurers and clients. the ofso has, therefore, earned the right to begin the transition to a more prominent role in the country ’ s financial architecture. against this background, the central bank and the ofso commissioned mr. david thomas, who served as chairman of the international network of financial services ombudsman schemes and was the chief ombudsman of the financial ombudsman service in the united kingdom, to prepare a report on upgrading the existing regime of financial consumer protection in line with international best practice. we have received the draft report entitled “ financial services ombudsman in trinidad and tobago : a strategy for the future. ” the study highlights several issues which we need to take into account in crafting a financial ombudsman scheme that complies with the fundamental principles of independence, fairness, clarity of scope and powers, effectiveness and efficiency, and accessibility, transparency and accountability. please allow me to elaborate on what i consider to be some of the critical design issues, going forward. perhaps the first and most critical design issue relates to changing the voluntary nature of the financial services ombudsman regime to one under - pinned by legislative authority. the voluntary nature of the ombudsman scheme has restricted the jurisdiction of the office to a