Growth in consolidated performance is reflected in stock prices and feeds into higher dividends paid out to shareholders. These efforts to reform corporate structure have borne fruit: developments in the Tokyo Stock Price Index (TOPIX), which represents the corporate value of listed Japanese firms, have been increasingly inclined to follow the world's trend of nominal GDP (Chart 15).
All of us, the business community and development partners must now build on these achievements to ensure that the gains are passed on to everyone. With one more bank now established in Kimbe, this will increase access to banking and financial services for a wider section of our communities. Money should circulate easily within this province and outside.