sada reddy : an anatomy of microfinance in fiji opening speech by mr sada reddy, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the pacific microfinance week 2009, nadi, 13 - 17 july 2009. * * * distinguished guests, resource persons and honoured participants. let me extend to you all a very warm welcome and bula vinaka to the fiji islands. i am very grateful and delighted to be here this morning to address this distinguished gathering of the pacific community on the important subject of microfinance. firstly, i would like to commend the microfinance pasifika network, the foundation for development cooperation and the sponsors for putting together such a comprehensive programme for us this week. a wide range of issues on microfinance and its role in the development of the pacific communities will be discussed. i note from the programme that we have very distinguished speakers and resource persons to speak to us and provide guidance on the way forward. i guess one of the greatest benefits of this kind of gathering is the networking and the sharing of each other ’ s experiences. i will therefore shortly be sharing with you some of fiji ’ s experiences in the promotion and development of microfinance in fiji. before that, however, let me make some general remarks on microfinance. as we are all aware, the role and contribution of microfinance in economic development and empowering our underprivileged is very important indeed. the impact studies of the various microfinance projects around the world have shown the significant improvement in the lives of people through the outreach of microfinance. it has contributed significantly in tackling poverty, improvements in housing, health & sanitation, better access to education, and more particularly the empowerment & participation of women in social and economic activities. most of you know the seminal work done in bangladesh in the area of developing and promoting microfinance schemes. a number of countries have adopted the bangladesh model. bangladesh saw an astronomical growth in microcredit over the last three decades. it has grown from a loan of us $ 27 to 42 people in 1976 to more than us $ 4 billion to 2. 8 million borrowers in 2003. i am told the recovery rate in bangladesh is 99 percent. these statistics show the phenomenal success of microcredit in bangladesh. therefore, i do not see why similar successes cannot be achieved in our part of the world. but this requires great drive and motivation of our people and policy makers. the basic

savenaca narube : following in the wake of asia ’ s progress – are we being left behind? summary of a speech by mr savenaca narube, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the pacific economic governance agencies ’ seminar “ following in the wake of asia ’ s progress – are we being left behind? ”, at the forum secretariat, suva, 1 june 2006. * * * 1. presentation outline • the presentation covers the economic performances of the fiji and selected south pacific island states and selected asian economies. • the major challenges for pacific island countries are presented with the recommended solutions. 2. economic performances • several factors affect the economic performance of small island states in the pacific. these include smallness and isolation of the islands, globlisation and the gradual loss of preferential markets, weather and environmental factors, lack of capacity and political instability. • two fundamental concerns are that economic growth is both volatile and low in fiji and across other pacific island countries. • recently, some countries like samoa have been raising their economic growth rates successfully, while others are still struggling. compared to other pacific island economies, fiji ’ s economic growth performance stands in the middle ground, not as high as samoa ’ s and not as low as the solomon islands. when fiji is benchmarked against selected asian countries, it shows how far we have to go in order to catch up with these economies. • using the undp ’ s human development index ( hdi ) as a measure of the quality of life, fiji ranks lower than both tonga and samoa. 3. asia has its own challenges • asia comprises around one third of the world ’ s population. • poverty is a result of such large populations which require sizeable economic development in order to create ample employment opportunities for the people. • corruption is endemic and almost acceptable in asia. civil unrest can sometimes be the result of such an environment. • pollution is a problem in asia. rising industries and technologies are having a detrimental effect on the environment. natural disasters, while unavoidable, are a possible result of the degradation of the environment. • close proximities to other asian nations and the rest of the world has resulted in geopolitical problems. • terrorism is a growing problem affecting both locals and visitors to the region. 4. factors affecting economic growth in the pacific islands • the smallness and isolation of the pacific islands are a challenge on its own. • globalisation has opened up