leasi papali ’ i scanlan : financial inclusion and mobile banking in samoa address by mr leasi papali ’ i scanlan, governor of the central bank of samoa, at the official opening of the workshop / information exchange on “ financial inclusion and mobile banking in samoa ”, apia, 20 january 2010. * * * at the outset, i would like to thank all of you for accepting our invitation to participate in today ’ s workshop on mobile money and mobile banking, which are two key strategies for implementing what is known as financial inclusion. i would also like to extend a warm welcome to our partners on financial inclusion in the pacific, mr. tillman bruett and mr. michael mccaffrey of the united nations capital development fund ’ s pacific financial inclusion program. as stated in our invitation letter, you have been identified as individuals and representatives of organizations with the potential to make a significant contribution to financial inclusion and financial literacy ; especially those of you with an interest in mobile telephones and financial services businesses in general. i trust that the free exchange of your valuable knowledge and experiences, will not only greatly benefit the other participants of today ’ s workshop but also financial inclusion ( as a whole ) in samoa. in july 2009, i attended a pacific regional meeting in fiji to discuss the advent of microfinance in the pacific. at this meeting, i was introduced to the concept of financial inclusion, and i was subsequently convinced of its relevance and importance to samoa. as you will be hearing from mr. tillman bruett, financial inclusion is simply described as the extension of financial services, at affordable costs, to reach those that are classified as the “ unbanked ”. these are people who have little or no access to formal financial services generally, not only as a result of the lack of financial education, but also due to their rural and isolated locations or low incomes. the purpose of the many financial inclusion strategies that are being implemented around the world, is to connect these “ unbanked ” people with the formal banking system, to enable them benefit from the various financial services that are available, and thus help equip them with the confidence to make informed financial decisions. financial inclusion has the potential to play a very important role in samoa ’ s economic development. traditionally, much of the efforts of the central bank of samoa ( like most other central banks in the world ) have been concentrated on promoting financial and economic stability, on the “ macro ” level. unfortunately

leasi papali ’ i tommy scanlan : samoa ’ s economy, interest rates and the expanded mandate of its central bank address by mr leasi papali ’ i tommy scanlan, governor of the central bank of samoa, on the induction of new graduates to the samoa institute of accountants, apia, 25 march 2010. * * * distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen 1. introduction at the outset, i want to thank the president and her committee for inviting me to address you on this special occasion. it is indeed both a privilege and an honour for me to be here this evening. in 1970, when the minister of finance ( hon. niko lee hang ) and i attended form 4 at saint joseph ’ s college, we were told that a number of students in our class will need to take “ physics ” as an option, while the rest will take “ accounting ” or “ bookkeeping ”, as it was called in those days. physics was a relatively new subject at that time, and they needed some guinea pigs to continue their experiment with. and, that was where we came in. we were never given the chance to decide which subject to take. so, from 1970 to 1972, nine of us studied physics while the rest of our colleagues studied accounting. i can never forget what one of the best accounting teachers in the country in those days used to say to us. he said, “ you can study physics all your life, but none of you will ever go to the moon ”. and, this teacher continued, “ in the unlikely event that you physicists become rich, you will not only need accountants to look after your money but the accountants could also end up spending your money for you! ” the teacher ’ s name was brother conrad, and i have no doubt that many of the senior accountants here tonight will remember this very learned marist brother. anyway, in 1973, seven of us from the “ sjc class of 1972 ” won scholarships to study in new zealand to become a doctor, engineers, a teacher, a lawyer, an air traffic controller and a master mariner. no scholarships were offered for accountants or physicists! the end result was, the minister ( niko lee hang ) and most of our other class mates eventually became accountants, whilst one became an economist and another an engineer. i suppose because of br. conrad ’ s warning, there was no physicist from our group. and, fortunately for me, i don ’ t have any money