. think about how you can provide them with an opportunity to invest in a broad range of assets at affordable cost. i have little doubt in my mind that as you take up this challenge, you will be able to create financial stability by being a good investment manager to this segment of investors. i have been informed by the chairman of equity capital resources ( ecr ) plc that the company intends to list ecrut on the stock exchange in the near future. when this commendable intention is achieved, ecrut will be the first collective investment scheme to be publicly traded on the stock exchange in zambia. with the calibre of men and women behind this investment vehicle, i am confident this will be achieved in the required time frame. when that time comes we want to turn back to this day and say “ we were part of the birth of ecrut ”. the existence of the ecrut shall provide means of resource mobilisation, bringing on board a collection of individual participation in the capital and money markets. this vehicle will facilitate the participation of investors who previously were not capable of participating in highly denominated securities in the financial sector. ladies and gentlemen, before i end my speech, let me quickly touch on an important aspect of collective investment schemes, that is, investor confidence in the managers and the industry itself. i believe by far this is the most important factor in whether a scheme can attract and maintain long - term investors. there must be a strong regulatory framework. whereas there is a strong regulatory body in the securities and exchange commission that vigorously administers the law to protect investors, fund managers must be committed to strong self - regulation and exercise professional ethics to the best interests of investors. this, chairperson, is fundamental. it now gives me great pleasure to officially launch the ecrut scheme. thank you.

marked improvement on the 1980s, when the increase remained at around 1 per cent per year, and even more so compared with the 1970s, when the productivity trend was negative. factors such as the change in fiscal and monetary policy regimes and stiffer competition have probably played a role in this development. despite the fact that the strong growth in productivity during the 1990s partly reflects both rapid growth in the private sector relative to the public sector and the large expansion in the ict sector, there is reason for relative optimism regarding the future. our economy has become more open, with greater competition and price pressure in many sectors. the problem is primarily the labour supply. here, developments seem to have turned in a negative direction. one reason for this, i believe, is that economic policy has not in practice been aimed at putting people in work. one example is that the compensation levels in several transfer payment systems were increased during the late 1990s. now other changes are being discussed which would directly and tangibly have the same effect, for instance, a reduction in working hours. another problem in this context is that the swedish labour market has not been able to make adequate use of the many people in sweden who were born abroad. the employment frequency among these people has been much lower than the employment frequency among people born in sweden. this applies in particular to those who have arrived here quite recently. they include many university - educated or otherwise highly - qualified people who are completely without work or have jobs below their level of competence. in addition, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the population's age structure in the near future will become less advantageous from a labour force perspective, with increasing numbers of exits from the labour force. an ever declining group of workers will have to support an ever increasing number of people, unless measures are taken. it is easy to see the significance for economic growth of measures to increase the labour supply. for example, the number of hours worked could increase by an average of 0. 4 percentage points more per year if it were possible to halve the number of people on sick leave by 2008. this means that the number of hours worked could increase by an average of 0. 8 per cent annually instead of 0. 4 per cent during the period up to 2008. if it was also possible to break the negative trend for persons born abroad and bring them into the labour market to a greater extent than now, this would also increase the number of hours worked. in 2002, 75 per cent