##gf framework to guide our policy initiatives, we recognise that each country has its own set of implementation challenges and that the transition towards greening the 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches financial sector will not happen overnight. additionally, climate financing is not cheap. realistically, we cannot expect government to bear this cost alone. as regulators, we therefore have an important role to play in ensuring multistakeholder collaboration and securing private sector support towards bridging this financing gap. we must also align our green finance strategies with national sustainable finance priorities and encourage the inclusion of climate disaster vulnerable groups including our women and our micro and small businesses. leveraging fintech presents a cost - efficient means of addressing frictions and enhancing channels for financing igf projects. furthermore, undertaking comprehensive capacity building and awareness is required to educate our stakeholders on the igf agenda and build support towards implementing green finance policies. as a last word on developing initiatives, i would like to share a sentiment recently shared at a forum of banks and regulators discussing climate risks : we need to guard against the pursuit of perfection over results. there is balancing required between being exactly wrong versus being useful and directionally correct. for this reason, we should be prepared to trial and error as we develop approaches. integration into financial inclusion and national level strategies similar to other countries that are experiencing the unprecedented impacts of climate change and disaster risks, fiji has made considerable progress in ensuring that its climate response is well aligned with national and international commitments. this, includes establishing a legal framework for planning, implementing, and monitoring fiji ’ s national climate change response and its commitments under the united nations framework convention on climate change ( unfccc ). fiji ’ s draft climate change bill aims to prompt innovation and foster greater collaboration between stakeholders ( private sector, civil society, academia, government agencies ). the outturn is anticipated to enhance greater confidence amongst international and domestic investors, thereby boosting an enabling environment for integrated public - private financing, investments, and decision - making. another key consideration is factoring gender into the development of green finance initiatives as we recognise that women are amongst the most vulnerable and most affected by climate disaster events. the importance of undertaking a bottom - up approach to consultations cannot be understated and we need greater involvement of our target audiences in policy development. it is therefore important that we incorporate women ’ s input and viewpoints early in the planning and design stages to improve the effectiveness of igf products and services. as you would have learned over

on the government ’ s expenditure plans, it has maintained expenditure on key priority areas of education, health, law and order, and infrastructure. the government ’ s focus on free education and primary health care are commendable as it strive to address the poor social indicators in the country. redirecting the focus of government resources to agriculture, tourism and small to medium enterprises ( smes ) will broaden the economic base of the country, reduce reliance on imported food and create employment opportunities for the majority of the population. serious investment in these sectors will assist in reducing the economy ’ s dependence on the mineral sector and increasing its resilience to adverse shocks, such as falling mineral prices or unexpected adverse weather conditions. let me turn to the area of financial system development. the central bank undertook two major financial sector reforms. the first was in 2000 as part of the structural reforms undertaken by the png government to address serious shortcomings in the financial system. this was followed by reforms towards the end of 2000 to broaden the financial sector, increase competition and improve accessibility to financial services, and to create a sound and stable financial system. the reforms in 2000 involved the following : banking sector – strengthening governance of banks with prudent management standards and guidelines superannuation funds – introduce voluntary superannuation and increase wider participation by the workforce ( reduce employees to 10 from 15 ) life insurance – introduced good governance and management practice standards and guidelines savings and loan societies – enhance market - oriented institutions and improved management ( reduced from 100 to 21 ) major legislations enacted were : a. central banking act 2000 making the central bank independent ; b. banks and financial act 2000, superannuation act, life and insurance act c. life insurance act 2000 bis central bankers ’ speeches d. superannuation ( general provisions ) act 2000 there were other financial sector reforms : • exchange control liberalisation for ease of doing business with exchange contracts broaden to allow residents to remit more abroad ( 1992 ), restrictions on ( kina ) lending to non - resident companies from domestic banks liberalised in 2004, current account transactions liberalised in 2005 and capital account transactions in 2007. there are now only a few controls in place. • financial inclusion towards the end of 2000s, there were further reforms striving towards financial inclusion and interconnectivity. these included : o establishment of centre of excellence for financial inclusion ( cefi ) to promote growth of microfinance o reach out to the large non -