such as education, food, shelter and clothing. smes give people the dignity of working for a living. theme : towards a national strategy for growing sustainable msmes promoting the development of msmes is vital to raise our future prospects and our standard of living. that is why forums such as this one today are so critical. not only must we come together to discuss, share ideas, brain - storm and strategize ways to foster this development but we must also make the public in general fully aware of the importance of this sector and of their potential and needs. i am pleased to note that the objectives of the forum seek to address this. i am also pleased to note that the national centre intends for the forum to cover issues under the topics of financing, entrepreneurship, environment and exports as these are all very important issues as regards msmes. let me now say a few words on environment. right environment is critical i think it is clearly obvious to us all how critical it is to have in place the right environment, to allow the msme sectors to grow. this environment must be created with sound policies and appropriate infrastructure and support services. it must be stable – politically, economically and socially. as we have observed, if the environment is not conducive it scares away visitors, scares away investors, and businesses are amongst the first to feel the negative repercussions. the phrase that we are a part of the “ global village ” remains highly applicable for us ; if we don ’ t have the right environment in place, if we don ’ t nurture and feed such an environment, then we are swimming against the tide. if we don ’ t have the right environment in place, there are so many other countries that tourists and holiday - makers can go to instead of fiji, and that investors can put their money into just as readily, if not easily, than in fiji. we are already offering all kinds of enticements to lure tourists and investors to our shores : reduced hotel rates and airfares, tax breaks of various kinds for investors and so on. but these types of “ carrots ” won ’ t be effective if the environment is unstable. let me highlight other constraints that may be impeding the growth of msmes in fiji. areas that need addressing statistics the first is the lack of data or statistics on msmes. you heard me earlier say “ smes probably make up only about 10 percent of our economy ” and that “ rough estimates suggest

abroad have risen very fast, growing from around $ 50 million in 1999 to around $ 322 million in 2006. although remittances fell last year, to around $ 256 million, it continues to be an important source of income in fiji. the question, though, is, “ what are these remittances being used for? what are they spent on? ” i hope that they are not just being used only for everyday consumption. these remittances need to be spent in a more useful manner, for example they can be used to start up small businesses, which would provide an income stream in the long term, thereby lengthening the benefits. we are examining ways in which we can set up financial facilities to support a more productive use of these remittances. charges are also important in encouraging remittances and i encourage everyone, particularly financial institutions, to work with us to reduce these charges. the way forward let me conclude on two practical notes. first, do we need to re - examine the model of our delivery of smes in all its phases? is the structure appropriate? is the level of government involvement relevant? can we identify how we can roll out smes quickly across the country? second, this forum is not the first to discuss smes. nor will it be the last. while developing a plan is essential, it is not sufficient. we must put the plan to work. based on experience, unfortunately, we spend too much time planning and not enough time executing them. i therefore hope that this forum will lead to some action with definite time frames. for such action to happen we need a few things. the first is a vision and i have a sense that we have this already. perhaps it needs clarity with some clear targets. the second is commitment or passion. i want to believe that we who are here today have this commitment – that is why we are here in the first place. the third is resources and capacity. i hope that the national centre is fully resourced to carry out our plan. the final issue is our combined support. we can make a difference. we play different roles in support of smes. the commercial banks and the fdb have a lending role. the government has an important role in building and maintaining an enabling environment and a support structure. the private sector can help in mentoring and advice. we in the rbf also play a part. i am confident that if we make a clear pledge today that we