61.   He said the kingdom has a stable political system and a well developed banking industry.

62.   He said the finance and banking industry is expected to be the first sector to fully adopt the use of electronic commerce.

63.   The biggest issue was the economy, which is dependent on tourism and a booming off-shore banking industry now threatened by proposals for stricter regulation.

64.   The European banking industry continued a crackdown as well.

65.   The Japanese banking industry is saddled with bad debt.

66.   The three state banks remaining after July will result in a better, more efficient division of business missions within the state banking industry.

67.   There have been major consolidations in the American banking industry.

68.   Former European Commission president Jacques Delors scolded French President Jacques Chirac on Sunday for criticizing the French banking industry in Singapore.

69.   A similar situation also exists in the service industries, including the airline and banking industries.

70.   A sound banking industry would support this endeavour, he said.