future ready. it has become imperative to enhance its resilience, whilst also be more innovative. conscious of the significance of this task, i initiated a deep industry - wide reflection to devise a strategy for the banking sector in mauritius going forward. i have to express my appreciation to the mauritius bankers association and the ceos of banks and other stakeholders for their unflinching support in developing the roadmap. this roadmap translates the vision and strategic objectives for the banking sector into an actionable plan. the key initiatives in the roadmap focus on the domestic market, the global business strategy as well as products and services. the fundamental factors 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches that will support the sustained expansion of the banking industry – such as the regulatory framework, esg, and capacity development – are also at the forefront of the strategy. i thank the oliver wyman team present here with us today which has relentlessly engaged with stakeholders locally and globally in crafting this report. going forward, the bank will ensure the execution of this roadmap in close collaboration with the banking industry and other stakeholders. in a few moments, we will have the privilege to see the honourable prime minister launch the report on the future of banking in mauritius. ladies and gentlemen i have set the scene for what the bank has in store for the coming years. these strides will contribute to boost confidence in the banking and financial system as well as unleash greater opportunities for the mauritian economy. over the next two days, we will have the opportunity to discuss many of these themes in greater depth and listen to expert views. before i conclude, i wish to express my gratitude to the honourable prime minister and also to the honourable minister of finance, economic planning and development for being among our midst today to mark the bank's emerald jubilee. last but not least, i thank all governors and representatives of central banks who have joined us to mark this momentous occasion. we look forward to working closely to adapt ourselves for our future. on behalf of the bank of mauritius team, i wish to thank you all for your presence today. thank you for your attention. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches

another note, the bsp is currently navigating research on the creation of central bank digital currency ( cbdc ). as published by the bank of international settlement in 2018, cbdcs are a new form of digital central bank money that can be distinguished from reserves or settlement balances held by commercial banks at central banks. hence, cbdcs may be considered legal money and should not be intertwined with cryptocurrencies, which are decentralized digital currencies based on blockchain technology. the bsp formed a technical working group ( tw g ) that is tasked to conduct an in - depth study on the feasibility and policy implications of issuing a bsp cbdc. cloud outsourcing as mentioned earlier, financial institutions have been leveraging on the benefits of cloud computing technology for quite some time, as guided by bsp circular no. 808 on information technology risk management and bsp circular no. 899 on outsourcing. 4 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches given the technological changes that have occurred in the past years, amendments to the outsourcing framework is already in progress, considering the increased maturity of the industry of bsfis and to benchmark with international leading practices. open banking another progressive action from the bsp is the formulation of the open banking framework. the bsp recognizes the benefits of open banking for the financial services industry as this espouses greater financial transparency options to consumers through wider access and control over their own data. as this progresses, it will become a strategic solution to drive digital transformation since banks and non - banks will be driven to provide more customer - focused products and services. ongoing amendments to vce and emi framework lastly, the accelerated growth on the use of emis and vces has driven the bsp to amend bsp circular no. 649 and bsp circular no. 944, respectively, to be aligned with the fintech industry ’ s best practices. as such, updates to bsp circular no. 649 is currently ongoing, while the amendments for bsp circular no. 944 is in its final phase. the proposed circular focuses on the guidelines for virtual assets ( va ) and virtual asset service providers ( vasp ), as it aims to enhance the bsp ’ s regulatory and supervisory response to money service business activities harnessing the technology of virtual currencies ( vc ), in line with international standards for anti - money laundering ( aml ) and countering the