strengthen its foundations for a brighter future, says the Bank of Butterfield's chief general manager Mr. Michael Collier.

This has been one of the most positive aspects to come out of downturn in the economy, Mr. Collier said in the Bank's recent newsletter to shareholders.

"Government and the private sector have together begun to make important strides in this direction, particularly through the Premier's Commission on Competitiveness and the many business and professional bodies which are assisting it.

"However, we all need to look very hard at what we can do to better ourselves -- as individuals, as community groups, as businesses and as a country -- so that we can strengthen those foundations, so carefully built over generations, which are essential to our future happiness and prosperity.

"There is no shortage of places to start. We exist in a service economy and that means providing first class services which our visitors and our international business clients demand, at prices they are willing to pay.

"The outside world does not owe us a living and there are now many other less expensive resorts and financial centres which compete against us.

"To meet tomorrow's challenges, we must reverse yesterday's acceptance of declining standards of behaviour and rebuild Bermuda's time-honoured traditional values.'' Chief among these are qualities such as civility, thrift, peacefulness and respect for the Island's beauty, said Mr. Collier.

"Providing good service and treating others with respect must never be allowed to become quaint memories of a bygone era,'' he added.

"To this end, I challenge each Bermudian to regard himself or herself at all times as an ambassador for this country and to strive to act accordingly, even when it is inconvenient for us to do so.

"This must equally be true in our dealings with each other. After all, we exist as a community, not just an economy and Bermuda is really too small a place for the unnecessary divisiveness to which we seem so prone, most notably in the field of labour relations.

"Like our economy, our social fabric is a somewhat fragile source of pride.

Both work well most of the time, borne out by the fact that we continue to enjoy one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, and our race relations, while not perfect, are nonetheless commendable by the standards of the outside world'' But he said both the economy and social fabric are vulnerable to disruptions of the Island's own making.

"We must guard against becoming hostages to situations and outdated modes of thought which feed on social disunity,'' he said.

"We live in an increasingly competitive world and one where traditional values are under pressure from a myriad of social ills.

"Our need to pull together as a community to face common challenges has never been greater.'' Mr. Collier said that Bermudians needed to pull together with a renewed sense of common purpose, realism and goodwill.

"Let us endeavour, in our many ways, to make 1993 a year not only of recovery, but of renewal,'' he added.

MR. MICHAEL COLLIER -- Bank of Butterfield's general manager.