for kenya : infrastructure bond program and the plan by the government to issue a euro bond in the current financial year also signifies that the domestic market has matured over time and gained confidence from both local and foreign investors. this is evidenced by the stable country ’ s credit rating and an attractive environment for investors. 5. automation of primary market processes : in an effort to enhance efficiency and safety of its operations, the central bank launched the t - 24 system in all its operations in april 2012. i would like to thank the stakeholders for being patient while the bank was experiencing challenges leading to the implementation of the new system. going forward the bank is working towards providing internet banking bis central bankers ’ speeches which will allow for services such as : online bidding faster dissemination of auction results and statements for government securities. 6. competitiveness at auctions : the use of an auction - based method in the issuance of government securities over the years has promoted price discovery and competitive prices at the primary market which is a key ingredient for the secondary market. 7. kenya government bond index : in october 2012, the nairobi securities exchange ( nse ) launched the ftse nse kenya shilling government bond index as a benchmark tool for measuring market performance. this was a great step in market development because the market now has the benefit of further opening up to the rest of the world and increasing kenya ’ s financial sector competitiveness. ladies and gentlemen, as you all know our success has not been without challenges along the way. just to mention a few, the slow pace of reforms particularly in the secondary market has promoted market illiquidity and hampered faster growth. but above all, economic vibrancy has been constrained by shocks in both the domestic and international environment beyond our control and this has at times affected the momentum of our market development. i wish to emphasize that a well - developed and proper functioning financial market is critical to economies all over the world as it enhances effectiveness of monetary policy, cushions the economy against external vulnerabilities while mobilizing long term financing for public and private sector development. therefore, the development of a robust financial market is not only a priority of the central bank of kenya but for every stakeholder in this market to embrace. towards this objective i urge all the stakeholders to continue to build a competitive bond market that supports the country ’ s development agenda under vision 2030. in cognizance with today ’ s theme of “ taking kenya ’ s bond market to the next

demonstrated that the free exchange of goods and services improves people ’ s standard of living. the list of positive effects of free trade is long : the division of labour and specialisation allows countries to produce what they are best at relative to their trading partners and import the rest ; 2 unrestricted access to foreign markets facilitates more cost - effective production given the larger sales volumes ; the availability of a broad array of foreign products increases choice for consumers with regard to end products and for producers with regard to primary and intermediate products ; increased competition from foreign rivals promotes efficiency and innovation ; the open exchange of goods and services also leads to the spread of knowledge and new technologies, and in so doing contributes to progress and growth as well. as a small open economy, switzerland is well aware of the benefits of the freest possible trade in goods and services with the rest of the cf. sachs and warner ( 1995 ) as well as frankel and romer ( 1999 ), for example. cf. ricardo ( 1817 ). page 2 / 9 world. chart 2 clearly illustrates the extent to which our country is integrated in the international trading system. switzerland profits tremendously from its openness. if the advantages of free trade are so strikingly obvious, then why is there any resistance at all? the answer is relatively simple : because not everyone is profiting from it to the same extent. although all countries that engage in free trade benefit overall from the unrestricted exchange of goods and services, this is not necessarily the case for every household and every company. free trade also has its losers. people working in industries that are structurally weak face the risk of losing their jobs if opening up the market means domestic providers are pushed out by more efficient competitors from abroad. the same applies to companies operating in such sectors and their owners, as they can also suffer heavy losses in this scenario. anyone who sees free trade as a threat to their livelihood is naturally going to reject it, irrespective of the fact that they stand to gain as a consumer and their country as a whole will benefit. while there is now scarcely any debate as to whether free trade leads to greater prosperity overall, the criticism is instead increasingly centred on inequality in the distribution of these prosperity gains. in phases of rapidly advancing globalisation, the distributional effects are particularly pronounced and apparent. for instance, china ’ s integration in world trade and its subsequent elevation to the leading trading nation is likely to have markedly accelerated the pace of structural change in some countries, negatively impact