to contend with the advent of the csm and the csme. the question would be how can the eccu successfully integrate itself into the wider regional arrangements? these arrangements will encompass the following : • regional currency arrangements which facilitate cross border movements of commodities, services, capital and labour at lower transactions cost without unnecessary exchange rate risks. • inter bank transfers which are completed expeditiously at low transactions cost. • a government securities market which has a range of maturities and allows for a regional listing of such securities. • a regional market for equities quoted on a single exchange. • a regional legislative framework to regulate the financial sector which is uniform and supervised by a single authority or a consortium of such bodies. • the development of a range of financial institutions whose scope is regional as opposed to national. at the national level, eccu member countries have some very challenging issues including : • low productivity in both the public and private sectors ; • high debt levels and fiscal imbalances ; • a secular decline in growth ; • severe diseconomies of scale and scope in public administration, production, marketing and distribution ; • there are also increasing social and environmental challenges in such areas as crime, social alienation among the youth, particularly males, hiv / aids, coastal erosion and traffic congestion. the countries of the oecs, of which the eccu is an integral part, have signaled their intention to establish an economic union in response to these various challenges. the economic union, as conceived, will create new political arrangements to support a single financial and economic space. this new domain, so to speak, will have common socio economic objectives encompassing the following : • economic transformation • growth • employment • poverty reduction • human development indices it will also identify the various policy instruments which would be appropriately applied to the achievement of these objectives. the areas of monetary and financial integration, development and regulation would be our primary concern. an objective assessment of the current circumstances of the eccu would indicate that with respect to comparative and competitive advantage, services are somewhat superior to the production of commodities. the analysis would also reveal that while tourism is the main foreign exchange earner, finance is critical in two areas. firstly, in its normal role as intermediator between savers and investors, and secondly, as an earner of foreign exchange in its own right. it is possible to identify a number of factors which gives the financial sector in the eccu a significant edge over other sectors. • the underlying

push " and identified several drivers, one of which is wealth creation. i called attention to the fact that almost 3 in 5 persons in the usa or 60 per cent are invested in the us stock market. in contrast, only 4 per cent of persons ( 1 in 25 ) in the eccu are invested in the eastern caribbean securities market. i then proposed a stretch target to raise that number from 1 in 25 persons t0 1 in 5 persons ( 20 per cent ) over the next decade. i confirm that the launch of this fund is aligned with the strategic directions of the eccb, which include financial inclusion and wealth creation. through this mutual fund, citizens and residents of the eccu will have access to the international financial markets. i understand the minimum investment size is us $ 200 or ec $ 540, after which any amounts could be invested. from the perspective of financial inclusion, this relatively low entry investment size provides a great opportunity for our people to invest and access the regional and international capital markets. and before you complain about the quantum required, i invite some of you to reflect on what you paid for your recent old year's night fete. the launch of this mutual fund leverages the strong savings culture in our region and offers an accessible and affordable way to help more of our savers become financial investors. in recent times, we have observed some persons pursuing risky options such as investments in cryptos. i hope these persons will consider this mutual fund as a safer option in which to invest their hard - earned money. wealth creation is essential for building resilience it is appropriate to situate the launch of this mutual fund in the wider context of our region's quest to create prosperity and build resilience. our inaugural financial literacy and inclusion survey found that 50 per cent of persons ( 1 in 2 ) in the eccu are not financially resilient. for me, resilience is the capacity to withstand and absorb shocks and bounce forward ( not back ). 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches i truly believe that wealth creation is one pathway to building financial resilience ; to the extent that our people generate additional income and wealth, including intergenerational wealth transfer, the stronger their capacity to weather financial storms and shocks. so leveraging the question i posed to our currency union, i invite you to now reflect on this personal and provocative question : what will it take to double your net worth over the next decade? could we personalise this question