for the rest of the world with a modernised $7 million telecommunications industry.

And he said a wealth of new job opportunities were being created for Bermudians because the hi-tech market had been opened to competition.

Dr. Gibbons was speaking as the newly-named Ministry of Management and Technology became the focus of a three-hour budget debate.

He said the Bermudian telecommunications industry had seen a 16 percent increase in jobs in the past two years.

And the Finance Minister claimed a "sophisticated'' Bermuda was now in a position to take advantage of the Internet by becoming one of the world's major online providers of financial services.

Dr. Gibbons presented the department's budget estimates as Technology Minister E.T. (Bob Richards), a Senator, watched from the public gallery.

And he said more funds would be diverted to the Ministry which monitors telecommunications and Government Information Services.

Dr. Gibbons said a 30 percent increase in funds for the telecommunications department would help the unit move to a new headquarters in the Purvis Building in Victoria Street.

He added that Government promised tighter control of the freed-up telecommunications sector as more firms sought a foothold in Bermuda.

"As far as possible, negotiations between carriers need to be left to commercial forces,'' he said. "But when somebody comes in to compete with established firms, they are coming in at a disadvantage.

"We have to ensure that we have a good referee. That's precisely what the Department of Technology does.

"This prospect of heightened regulatory attention isn't necessarily unique to Bermuda and it's been a feature of many jurisdictions which have embarked upon similar paths.

"But we are not trying to adapt ourselves to overseas models and we are looking for a `made in Bermuda' model because we have our own very special circumstances.

"We are the smallest telecommunications market in the world to introduce competition. We are being watched by other countries to see how successful we are and many of them are larger than us.

"We make the calls of a country of 300,000 people -- even though there are only 60,000 of us.'' He said 735 people now worked in the industry, an increase of 16 percent on 1995 figures.

Concluded on Monday's newspaper.

Ministry of Management and Technology 1998/99 Ministry responsibility: To provide support to the Government of Bermuda by promoting effective communications between the Government and the people of Bermuda and by assisting the telecommunications authority in the orderly development of telecommunications in Bermuda.

Budget estimate: $1,783,000 (last year $1,623,000) Budget allocations Telecommunications $688,000 Government Information Services $1,095,000 Revenue $7,000,000