The growing role of services in modern economies suggests that improvements in European living standards and competitiveness will crucially depend on productivity improvements in this area. The aim of the Services Directive, for instance, is to improve the competitiveness not just of service enterprises, but of European industry as a whole.
Tropical Cyclone (TC) Winston has defined the year for us as such, and brought to the fore the importance of having a robust insurance industry. Honourable Chair, in our last presentation to the Standing Committee on the 2014 and 2015 Insurance Annual Reports, we had highlighted the significance of the insurance industry to the economy.