give out today recognises the successes of young and individual micro - entrepreneurs, micro - business partnerships and micro service providers. this year we received the highest number of submissions mainly from viti levu and a few from vanua levu, taveuni, lau and gau. the submissions have been assessed by a panel of three judges representing the ministry of women, children & poverty alleviation, the university of the south pacific and the reserve bank of fiji. the individual, partnership and youth categories were assessed on business growth, use of local resources and creativity, reserve bank of fiji adequate book - keeping, sustainability and compliance with government regulations. for the institution category, assessments focused on outreach, delivery channels and use of innovative technology and client protection. closing i wish to take this time to congratulate all our finalists that have joined us from around the country today despite the weather conditions. you have done an incredible job to get to where you are today and should be proud of your achievements. to our award recipients, we trust that you will put your prizes to good use in expanding your businesses and furthering your entrepreneurial dreams. i also wish to acknowledge and thank the government for its continuous support towards our work and initiatives on msme development, particularly mitt, the honourable minister and our chief guest, the permanent secretary for taking time out from his busy schedule to attend tonight ’ s function. lastly and certainly not the least, i wish to once again acknowledge the great support of all our sponsors – thank you for your commitment. it is our hope that the success stories we highlight today will inspire others to capitalise on opportunities, start their own businesses and continue to support the micro enterprise sector. vinaka vakalevu, and i wish you all an enjoyable evening.

reflect climate - related risks. 13 although it will take time and effort, te putea matua is committed to implementing our mandate with regard for climate risks. during my time at the new zealand superannuation fund we signed the paris pledge for action, affirming our commitment to a safe and stable climate where temperature rise is limited to under 2 degrees celsius and launched a climate change strategy to ensure the fund was more resilient 3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches to climate risks. 14 in 2017 we exited or reducing holdings in 300 firms as part of our carbon transition. we believed that climate change represented a material risk which was not being properly priced by the markets. the fund also increased its focus on environmental, social and governance factors which are now integrated into all aspects of the fund ’ s investment activities. in the broader industry, organisations such as mindful money empower individuals to understand where their money is invested through kiwisaver or investment funds. 15 i would encourage you to examine your portfolios and see how you can incorporate climate risk into the way you invest and allocate your capital. working in unison we can make a larger impact than anyone could alone. south pacific remittances as kaitiaki we recognise the need to promote strong regional economies as these support our financial stability mandate. we believe that it is our duty to act as a responsible regional citizen particularly in today ’ s economic environment. in a recent article16 i outlined that the scale and complexity of the challenges facing pacific island countries are significant, including climate change and the severe economic impacts of covid19. with international travel and trade disrupted by the pandemic, we know that pacific island countries are facing tough times. at the latest census, pacific people made up 8. 1 % of population of aotearoa. 17 i am personally proud to be of cook islands descent. we know that pacific people living in new zealand send money home, or remittances, to support their family members. pacific island countries are some of the most remittance - reliant jurisdictions in the world. world bank data shows that in 2020 remittance as a share of tonga ’ s gdp was close to 40 %, nearly 19 % for samoa and just over 7 % for fiji, with new zealand being one of the main sources of these funds. 18 we recognise the economic importance of pacific people in new zealand being able to send money back to their home countries through remit