SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore Monday announced a wide-ranging plan to boost its financial services sector, saying it aimed to grow the industry by over four per cent a year and create thousands of jobs.

The city-state is one of Asia’s key financial hubs and home to the regional headquarters of many major banks and other key players in the sector. It has long competed with Hong Kong for the title of the region’s leading financial centre.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the central bank, unveiled a roadmap which set out strategies to grow the sector, saying it was urgent for the industry to keep pace with changes in technology.

“The sector is going through a period of significant change,” MAS said in a statement.

“With technology transforming the way financial services are produced, delivered, and consumed, it is critical that Singapore’s financial sector also transforms, to stay relevant and competitive.”

The MAS plan envisages achieving real growth in the financial sector of 4.3 per cent annually and aims to create 3,000 jobs in financial services, and an additional 1,000 jobs in the financial technology sector annually.

The central bank pledged to step up efforts to encourage financial institutions to improve their use of technology to increase efficiency.

The roadmap also laid out plans for Singapore to bolster its status as a leading foreign-exchange and wealth management hub.