to include many different vegetables. he is now looking into expanding into commercial peanut farming. i am told mr chand is always looking to expand the farm by testing different crops. mr chand ’ s venture was assisted greatly by the lautoka staff of the microfinance unit and the ministry of agriculture. through the microfinance unit west sanjay was identified as a candidate for the fdb small business of the year awards for 2008 and he was successful in receiving the farming small business award sponsored by the reserve bank of fiji. there are several other very good success stories but these two cases, i just illustrated, go to show how we can assist small and micro businesses to grow with the necessary support and guidance from the various agencies of government, financial institutions and ngos. let me at this stage briefly talk about the anz rural banking scheme in fiji. access to banking services in the rural areas is very critical in enhancing the growth of microfinance. in view of this, the reserve bank of fiji has been discussing with the commercial banks in fiji for a number of years on how best they can provide access to banking services to our rural people. the reserve bank was very pleased that the anz bank took great initiative in this regard by launching the anz rural banking services in 2004. both the reserve bank and the government played an important facilitating role in this initiative. i am pleased to say that the anz rural banking scheme is now an internationally recognized model for delivery of banking services to the rural sector. here, i would like to convey my special thanks to the undp for its role in making the anz rural banking a success. the undp ’ s financial literacy programme assisted in the success of this scheme immensely particularly in the education of villagers in the rural areas on the importance of managing their finance. to date, anz has face - to - face relationship with over 300 communities and 200 schools each month. in just under 4 years, anz rural banking initiative has grown substantially to over $ 9m deposits with over 70, 000 rural customers. in addition, total lending has reached over $ 2m and its rural banking team continues to serve with vigour in areas across fiji – in suva, nausori, sigatoka, ba, labasa, savusavu and including taveuni & kadavu. the reserve bank of fiji is very grateful to the anz rural banking scheme for the commitment shown in areas that are not normally serviced by commercial

instrumental in the implementation of financial literacy programmes, provision of micro - capital grants, research & specialised technical expertise specific to financial service development, advocacy and facilitation of partnerships and capacity development. i also commend the undp ’ s new initiatives that are being considered such as the provision of mobile phone banking services. i assure you the rbf will be supportive of such initiatives that will reduce transaction costs and improve extension of banking services, particularly to the remote areas. this will allow those in our remote islands to access banking services. with the wide coverage of our current mobile phone providers, this initiative will have a significant impact on our development. more recently the rbf has taken on an active role in formulating financial strategies and policies to increase access to finance by our rural and unbanked people. a new department called the financial system development and compliance group was specifically set up in april this year to drive these initiatives. i am hoping that the rbf will now be able to interface more closely with other development agencies and the financial institutions in promoting microfinance schemes around the country. to begin with the rbf has asked all the commercial banks operating in fiji to set up microfinance centers in each of their branches with effect from january 2010. we believe the commercial banks need to play a more active role in the development of the country in which they operate through designing their banking services to suit the needs of the development goals of the country. as we are aware most of the countries in asia and south america have successfully outreached the rural sector through national policies in which the banking industry plays a pivotal role. some of the other areas of policy development the rbf is focusing on are : • local value added content requirement for the tourism industry ; • financial literacy ; and • local advisory board for branches of foreign banks. most of these policies are directly related to the microfinance initiative. the goals of each of these projects are mutually reinforcing – that is, achieving one will lead to another. concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, i have discussed at length our experiences in fiji with respect to development and promotion of microfinance. i have also touched on a number of challenges we all face in our respective countries in getting more and more of our rural and unbanked people into the economic mainstream. they can be a formidable force and with proper systems and structures in place, can contribute substantially to economic development. i have acknowledged the significant contribution the various government agencies, financial institutions and development