embrace the inclusive consultative process we have adopted. bis central bankers ’ speeches data initiatives and what led to demand - side survey ladies and gentlemen, the availability and appropriate usage of data is paramount in any effective decision making process. we are aware that many countries are struggling to get a handle on their financial inclusion development because of the lack of both supply - side and demand - side data. for us in fiji a key ingredient for our new strategy will be the data we have been collecting over the years and from the recent demand side survey. unlike when we first started out on this journey, we now have a very comprehensive data set available to construct a complete picture of our financial inclusion initiatives and we can see where the gaps exist. traditionally, as regulators through our supervision activities, we receive supplyside data from our licenced financial institutions. data from the supply - side will tell us how many accounts there are, the types of accounts, the geographical spread, numbers of access points and network coverage, and so on. demand - side data, however, are from the consumers or users and are generally gleaned through household surveys. such data, while also telling us the numbers of people with accounts, will provide us a bit more on the ease of access and the barriers to use of financial services from the public ’ s point of view. this data gives us a good picture of the percentage of adults in fiji with a formal bank account and those that are excluded from the formal sector and the reasons behind exclusion. at this point i would like to recognise bankable frontier associates, a consulting firm based in the usa, which we commissioned to help conduct the demand side exercise. these consultants worked closely with the reserve bank of fiji, the bureau of statistics, the national financial inclusion taskforce ’ s statistics working group and the pacific financial inclusion programme, to develop the questionnaire, train the survey team and deliver the final report. demand - side survey ladies and gentlemen, the demand - side survey report that we are launching today provides us with an overall view of access, usage and to some extent, the quality of financial services and products, both formal and informal, amongst fiji ’ s adult population. this report is very helpful for regulators and the financial service providers to better understand the situation or reality on the ground, particularly the barriers that are preventing people from using the formal financial system. the survey covered a national representative sample of 1284 respondents through 15 provinces in fiji. all the respondents were 15 years of age and above

economic backdrop that makes such a venture that we are celebrating today extremely encouraging. we certainly need more investment such as this. i recall discussing this investment with colonial in 2005 and i was pleased that in september that year, colonial went ahead and invested considerably to re - establish the business of padarath poultry enterprises limited ( ppel ). colonial has gained full control of rooster poultry. reflecting its confidence in the business, between september 2006 and today, colonial has invested additional funds in the project. one of the major parts of this investment has been the re - establishment of breeder and rearing farms to produce local fertile eggs rather than importing such eggs. these farms are now on stream and the business is experiencing a progressive reduction in the volume of imported eggs. this would certainly help our balance of payments. i found the partnership with grower program very interesting. i understand that the growing of broiler chickens combines well with cane farming and virtually all of the growers contracted are also cane growers. i have been informed that already 12 contract growers have taken up the opportunity to join poultry rooster ’ s developments and more are in the process of building sheds. at least 6 more are planned for placement prior to end of december 2007. this is an excellent model in small and micro finance that works. the resurrection and further capacity building has resulted in the direct employment of over 180 people in the ba area, and that does not include the additional employment available through contract growers. i found the details of this investment very interesting. the rearing farm in tavarau is where the new facilities are capable of producing 4 flocks per annum in 4 sheds. after 18 weeks, the birds are transferred to the breeding farm at qalitu where they lay fertile eggs that are transferred to the hatchery in lautoka. the ba farm has 18 sheds and the general processing plant. one of the largest projects undertaken was the building of a large 250 ton holding freezer, and a six months road and drainage upgrade. a new rendering plant has been commissioned as well as an environmentally appropriate water waste system. at the suva depot in vatuwaqa, a new holding freezer to facilitate daily delivery to poultry rooster ’ s customers in suva and surrounding areas. i am told that the sales team now enjoy the use of updated freezer trucks. this investment has come with new it infrastructure, capacity building, development of ohs requirement and commencement of international accreditation. the outcome of this investment program