We more or less stuck to our basic activities in-terms of financial stability optimization and inflation control and economic development objective took a slightly backseat. I think now it is incumbent on us to really re-engage with the government, with all the social sector players, with all sorts of industry groups, agriculture groups, service sector groups and really map the way forward on how this country can grow. When you look at the situation it is not bad, but on the other hand there is a lot of work to be done. Take for instance the fact that the entire Northern Province contributes only 4% of the total national GDP. That is simply unacceptable. We have nine provinces in this country and you cannot have one of them only contributing 4%. That is simply unbalanced, and the opportunity is that we have in Northern Province three branches, in Trincomalee, in Jaffna and now in Kilinochchi, and there is no reason at all why we cannot spur all the banking institutions in Northern Province to come under our umbrella and really see that the economic potential of that region is achieved. It is very simple. We just have to see that the banking institutions and ourselves work on a coordinated basis to look at what resources that area of the country has,  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  whether it is manpower or land that is unutilized, and the agricultural potential.
Also the East Asian countries around it, like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong had mounted their economic miracle by opening up their market and making their exchange rates competitive and basically getting huge amounts of foreign investment. That model worked effectively and it is the only model that really is open for emerging markets to prosper. But now they are facing a problem. Their populations have stopped growing so they do not have young, creative workers coming into the workforce in-order to make their economies continue to grow at the fantastic rates of growth they achieved for several decades; 10–12% of rates for economic growth. So now the challenge is for the countries around the Indian Ocean. Particularly the Southern Indian Ocean. The whole SAARC Region including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, even the Maldives in its own way, and then look at the Middle East, parts of the Middle East which are prospering, particularly the UAE, Oman, Qatar and similar countries and then the whole of the African Continent, which you may or may not know, has about a billion people. This is almost the size of China about ten years ago. If Africa can get going with its vast stores of minerals and other types of natural resources, then you really see a transformation in this part of the world. This part of the Indian Ocean  4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  will, I think, really be the fastest growing region in the world in ten years’ time.