rundheersing bheenick : bank of mauritius – 40th anniversary year highlights and outlook speech by professor rundheersing bheenick, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the dinner to mark the conclusion of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the bank of mauritius, port louis, 6 december 2007. * * * “ our revels now are ended … ” the vice - president and our guest of honour ; former vice - presidents ; former deputy prime ministers ; ministers ; former ministers ; excellencies members of the diplomatic corps ; honourable governor of the bank of ghana dr paul acquah, our special guest this evening ; members of the board of the bank of mauritius, chairman of the mauritius bankers ’ association ; chairman of the joint economic council ; deputy speaker ; honourable members of parliament ; mayors and chairmen of district councils, members of the press, distinguished ladies and gentlemen : the first necessity for good speaking is a goodly audience : and i must say we certainly have that tonight! i am delighted that we have with us on this occasion our special guest dr paul acquah governor of the bank of ghana. we are here for the finale of the celebrations of the 40th anniversary year of the bank of mauritius. i should add our congratulations to the mauritius bankers ’ association, who are with us in strength tonight, also in their 40th year. at our opening banquet, we dwelt on the milestones we have passed since those heady days of independence and the opening of this bank, as part of the process of shedding the mantle of colonial times. tonight i will focus on the fresh developments of this 40th year itself, with just a glance into the crystal ball of years ahead. there are quite some tasks that confront us to secure a sure sustainability for banking into the future. we hover still in a shadow of the looming clouds, of recent months, from the global credit crisis unfolding from the us sub - prime debacle. dr reddy our good friend from the reserve bank of india has emphasised the uncertainties in the unstable state of banking. these are nothing less than a climate change for us. they are the inescapable shifting of the tectonic plates of global trade. we shall be seeing the west, and even the “ green back ” as a global currency, recede, and the asian giants move in. for the present, let me say, 2007 has been not just a year of celebration, but a year of real progress and

r basant roi : treasury and risk management address by mr r basant roi, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the financial markets association of mauritius workshop on treasury and risk management, 10 september 2003. * * * president and members of the financial markets association of mauritius ladies and gentlemen good morning. thank you chairman for the invitation to briefly address this gathering of financial market participants this morning at the opening ceremony of the treasury and risk management workshop. as far as i recall, this is the first time that such a workshop is being organized by your association for the benefit of its members and for professionals involved in treasury and risk management. since the breakdown of the bretton woods system in the early 1970s treasury management has assumed an increasingly greater importance in our economic life. with the globalisation of financial markets treasury management has become more demanding than before. until five years ago treasury management was not assigned the same importance that ought to have been given by corporate bodies in mauritius. it is absolutely essential that in today ’ s world efficient treasury management occupies a seat of importance in the management of enterprises. i congratulate your association for having taken the initiative to hold this workshop. i strongly believe that we should keep ourselves abreast of the latest developments in asset and liability management, risk management techniques and derivative instruments. this workshop is positively a first step forward. i would first and foremost like to make an observation. treasury management is not specific to banks and other financial institutions. it does concern all of us who are in the business of managing financial resources in a globalised financial market. enterprises producing goods and services, exporters, importers or any other economic agent that has got to manage its finance necessarily requires expertise in treasury management. in 1999, i was surprised to learn that an exporter with a turnover of over rs2 billion did not have any expertise at all in managing its own finance. in a world economy characterized by stiff competition, every enterprise needs to be good in treasury management. in the last few years i have stressed a lot on good corporate governance as the basis for best business practices and highlighted the urgency for restructuring and consolidation of individual firm so as to enhance micro - economic efficiency. traditionally much of the knowledge and skills of professionals in the wholesale financial markets has been learned on the jobs. this approach has varied from the simple “ sit, watch and learn ” approach to the sophisticated mentoring system used by some large financial institutions. today treasury operations have grown into one of the key administrative areas of financial