and conditions of living. it has enabled all nations to produce on a higher efficiency scale. it has helped increase productivity. it has allowed the instant spread of knowledge and ideas so that the range of choices available to consumers has expanded continuously. trade and globalization have without doubt brought enormous benefits to many countries and citizens of the world. we might disagree on the exact modalities and the sequencing of trade and tariff reforms, but few of us would dispute that international trade has been a major driver of global economic growth since the end of the second world war. trade expansion boosted post - war economic recovery in the leading economies of today ; germany and japan are notable examples that come to mind. it figures large in the “ growth miracles ” of the asian tigers, mauritius, but also china! but this has not happened without those countries facing their own crises. the impact of the crisis on trade finance today we are facing the worst economic crisis in generations and this crisis is threatening to undo the economic development that many countries have achieved so far. undoubtedly world trade has been one of the worst casualties in the global financial crisis. this is even threatening to “ erode people ’ s faith in an open international trading system. ” the negative impact on world trade finds its way through two main channels. first the credit crunch resulting from the financial market turbulences has led to a fall in the supply of trade finance, which has rightly been described as the oil of the wheels of international trade ; and secondly the spillover of the financial crisis into the real economy has caused the worst recession since the great depression and fuelled a contraction of trade volumes. and those of us who believe in open trade almost as an article of faith, have watched with growing disbelief as the threat of protectionism started to rear its ugly head. as economic activity collapsed and unemployment soared in many countries, protectionist sentiment has risen along with the attraction of other trade - distorting policies. many countries have implemented domestic stimulus packages aimed at protecting their businesses and industries, favouring domestic goods and services sometimes at the expense of imports. policy - makers are perfectly aware that such policy actions have international implications – in the short term they can boost domestic demand but in the long term, they undermine the international trading system and global wealth and welfare. outlook for world trade for 2009 if we look at the prospects for world trade for 2009, we see that the world bank has predicted that the volume of world trade in goods and services will decrease by around 6 percent.

general lamy, who, underscoring the importance of concluding the doha round, warned that “ the stress test of the multilateral trading system is still to come ”. i align myself with the view that the mutual benefits of trade are too important not to be preserved and it is in the interest of one and all to maintain and enhance trade openness at all costs. indeed i strongly believe that, protectionist sentiment notwithstanding, trade continues to function as the hand - maiden of economic growth and will support global economic recovery. regional cooperation / economic integration in mauritius, our trade policy has always been one of openness, whether it is to the world economy or to the region. we have of course, never been averse to drawing benefits from preferential trade arrangements. we are a member of various important international organisations such as wto and of regional blocks such as comesa and sadc. more importantly, we have been in the front line of african countries to benefit from the african growth and opportunity act. for little mauritius, africa represents a sizeable market for our products and services and has untapped potential. many local companies are exporting to sadc and comesa countries and they envisage extending their export network to other parts of the continent. the mauritian banking sector has been quite resilient to the financial market turbulence, but the interconnectedness that comes from living in a highly integrated world means that our banks are not immune to contagion effects. in the words of ngozi okonjo - iweala, the managing director of the world bank, we, in the emerging economies, are " innocent bystanders " in the global recession created by developed countries. but we are determined to avoid becoming victims of the credit crunch. we do recognize the need for collective action in order to get through these harsh economic times. this gives me the opportunity to articulate my position regarding the strong lobbying of some of our exporters in favour of the continued depreciation of our currency. export lobbies have been clamouring for a depreciation of the rupee to ensure their competitiveness, if not to guarantee their very survival. but we need to look at the other side of the coin – consumer and producer price inflation arising from pass - through of higher import prices. at a time when one of our main concerns is protecting people and their purchasing power, intervention by the bank of mauritius to keep the rupee at a depreciated level