The deliberate work on liberalising trade and capital flows, as well as payments for these transactions, within a strong multilateral framework began almost sixty years ago and is an important explanatory factor behind the increased economic growth we have experienced since then. The strategy was mainly based, within the framework of the GATT, on a gradual removal of trade barriers and the building up of a multilateral trade system via regular negotiating rounds and, within the framework of the IMF, to jointly promote financial stability and free payments, initially for current account transactions and later for an increasing number of capital account transactions. Moreover, the World Bank was established, whose primary purpose is now to reduce poverty in the world. The endeavours towards liberalisation have been, and still are, very successful. With regard to trade, this can be illustrated by the fact that average tariffs on manufactured goods have fallen from over 40 per cent at the end of the Second World War to under 5 per cent today. Trade liberalisation has led, through increasing specialisation and competition, to a more efficient distribution of labour between countries, which has contributed to higher growth, and also to greater options and lower prices for consumers. However, the adjustments have not been easy, as we know from our experiences of the  1 Branchföreningen för Kontorsartiklar, Emballage, Papper och Angränsande produktområden  BIS Review 60/2004  1  changes in the Swedish shipyard and textile industries.
There is no option for financial institutions but to be able to deliver and ensure the integrity of their services – banking, payments, insurance or takaful, in dealing with customers – digitally or online during these times. The road is thus wide open for fintech. In a not so distant future, we can expect that fintech will be part of the mainstream, perhaps even becoming the primary mode of delivery for financial services, no longer requiring strategising and planning on how we could fully embrace it in conferences and dialogues like we will be doing today. Before I conclude I would like to congratulate ISRA for their development of the I-FIKR App, which 2/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  will be launched during the event. The App certainly fits well with the digitalisation of the Islamic finance knowledge of the Islamic finance industry. We hope to see it as another home-grown product that will contribute further toward the advancement of the Islamic finance Industry. Finally, once again I would like to thank and commend ISRA for organising the Islamic Fintech Dialogue 2020. Events such as this provide us an opportunity to take a step away, allowing us the space to focus on key issues and challenges which I hope will inspire us to improve on our vision and strategies for innovative transformation in Islamic finance. Over the course of this 2day event, with the array of speakers and moderators, I am confident this will be achieved.