central bank of barbados tom adams financial centre, spry street, bridgetown p. o. box 1016 telephone : ( 246 ) 436 - 6870 : fax. ( 246 ) 436 - 7836 e - mail address : info @ centralbank. org. bb website : www. centralbank. org. bb remarks by cleviston haynes, governor, central bank of barbados at the opening of the new branch of consolidated finance one welches, st. thomas thursday, january 31, 2019 i am delighted to celebrate with you, the launch of this new corporate branch in the growing welches business district. firstly, i would like to extend congratulations to the head of the branch, mr. darrell wilson, an experienced financial services professional, and his staff, as they set out on this exciting journey, anxiously looking forward to seizing the available opportunities and overcoming the inevitable challenges that lie ahead. i have no doubt that the depth of experience and understanding of the barbadian financial landscape that you bring will augur well for the success of this new branch, as you seek to expand consolidated finance ’ s foothold in the corporate and commercial lending market. consolidated finance is now a household name with a long history in barbados, having been established as a wholly - owned subsidiary of the mcenearney alston ( barbados ) group. the company has built an excellent reputation, expanding its range of financial products and services ranging from vehicle leasing arrangements to offering fixed deposits, real estate financing, merchant banking and foreign exchange trading. as regulator, the bank has been able to monitor your growth and we are satisfied with your commitment to enhance your systems for risk management to ensure compliance with regulatory standards. we welcome your decision to expand your footprint in the domestic financial market at this time. it demonstrates confidence in your ability to manage an expanded portfolio. equally important, it shows confidence in the future prospects for the barbados economy and embodies your commitment to helping the barbados economy to recover and strengthen over the medium term. 1 | page as i reported only yesterday, the economic indicators for the barbadian economy are displaying encouraging signs. but the prospects for durable growth over the medium term require a strong recovery in investment, both foreign and domestic. i believe that the domestic financial sector has an important role to play in this area, as it seeks to allocate over time, the substantial resources it has mobilized from our citizens. in recent years, credit demand has been weak and the banking sector has been marked

their processes, to save time and to shorten output schedules. it enables a more effective alignment with the rapidly changing demands of the customers since new enterprises with different skills increase functional flexibility. most businesses benefit by establishing a more solid presence in new markets, either directly of through a local partner, particularly since some traditional customers are still wary of conducting extensive business over the internet because of the uncertainty of legal environment governing such transactions. concerns about enforcement of contacts, liability, intellectual property, privacy, security and other matters have caused international business and consumers to be cautious. hence, it is useful to have a local presence. nevertheless, subsidiaries of foreign companies may require financial statements under us, canadian or uk gaap, thereby expanding the work of local firms and increasing their exposure. international business jurisdictions like ours, therefore, tend to benefit from a vast international exposure even though they are locally based, because their clients are multi jurisdictional. evaluating entry options research shows that over 80 % of companies seeking to expand plan to grow by adding new customers and entering new markets. however, entering new markets often involves learning, adopting and implementing new business practices and policies. fortunately for us in the caribbean, regional markets have, for the most past, similar accounting and regulatory systems, so that expansion regionally should not be problematic. successful companies who instinctively recognize the importance of new customers and new markets, are the firms which tend to succeed since they are proficient at establishing both effective marketing and new business development processes, including benchmarking and competitive analysis aimed at achieving sustained growth. in the increasingly market - oriented, global economy, challenges bring changes. even banks and others in the financial industry are revising their strategies, focusing on revenue generation after years of focussing on costcutting measures. global trends point therefore to increasing revenue growth, but the success of many firms located in the region, will be also determined by how well they respond to the forces that are changing the face of their respective industries, including the changing requirements relating to standards, and the need for additional transparency with respect to both the customer and the investing public, and how well they adjust to these global trends. the csme can assist in helping firms in accessing external markets through using the region as a stepping stone, though this intermediate step is not always essential to going global. with the help of some of the initiatives of government as well as initiatives from private firms themselves, successful regional expansion is possible. each firm will need to be able to formulate its own