to international trade, and through it, to wealth creation. the pinnacle of country ’ s trade performance was recorded during the reign of the king parakramabahu, the great, in the late 12th century. the evidence suggests that it was a complete free market economy policy that was followed during this whole period. according to the great chronicle of sri lanka, mahavansa, the king is recorded to have set - up the first ever export processing zone called antharaanga dhuura, bordering the present kalu ganga, bentara ganga and sinharaja forest. in this zone, elephants, ivory, timber, gems, pearls and spices were processed for export to india, china and the middle east 2. in order to facilitate trading with many different nations, the king parakramabahu made it mandatory for state officials to be fluent in foreign languages. during this period, sri lanka is reported to have functioned as a vibrant entrepot trade centre, the role played by singapore in the modern world. according to some authors, sri lanka had simultaneously imported and exported the same commodity, such as textiles and fabrics 3. this is considered as a very advanced form of trading known as intra - industry trade by modern economists. the same high profile of the country in foreign trade was continued unabated in the period afterwards. according to dr s arsaratnam 4, both the sinhala kings and the dutch used arabic traders to export elephants, gems, areca nuts and spices, and import rice, textiles and other requirements in the 16th to early 18th centuries. the british period that followed the dutch rule is marked by a continuation of the open - economy policy pursued by ancient sinhala kings. during this period, the country continued to rely on foreign trade for wealth creation and maintaining high standards of living. hence, the reliance on services, especially commercial services, for wealth creation was not a new policy paradigm for sri lanka. around the time sri lanka gained independence from the british rule, the country ’ s gdp was distributed in the proportion of 46 percent for agriculture, 20 percent for industry and the balance 34 percent for services. the high share of both agriculture and industry amounting to about a two - third of gdp indicated the prevalence of a limit for their continued growth devoid of a vibrant and efficient services sector. this anomaly was to be gradually, and in a slow pace, corrected in the subsequent five decades. in 1960, a slight improvement in the respective shares was observed with agriculture falling to

) was enacted in 2007. the npsa empowered the bank of zambia to develop and implement the national payment systems policy so as to promote the efficiency, stability and safety of the zambian financial system. the bank of zambia thus designates players wishing to provide payment services such as money transfer services, mobile banking and other payment services. this process has strengthened the capacity of the boz to monitor transactions and to ensure that only safe and efficient institutions are allowed to provide payment services. distinguished guests, allow me to conclude by congratulating ecobank zambia limited for the innovative products that we are launching today. we hope that our people can send and receive money conveniently, safely, and at a reasonable cost. i also wish to call upon all banks and financial institutions to emulate ecobank by introducing such products which contribute to increasing access to banking services for the zambian people. the opportunity, primarily for banks and other financial institutions, is to find ways to leverage zambians in the diaspora to use remittance services that will both be profitable for the banks and will also provide them and their families with greater financial access. i thank you for your attention.