secondly, we want to be served efficiently and courteously with minimum waiting time. have you heard the story of a patient named tom that was being examined by a doctor? every few minutes the doctor had to stop talking with tom to answer calls from other patients, listen to their symptoms and advise them what to do. this went on for a while. when the doctor next answered the phone, he heard, “ doctor, this is tom calling! ” thirdly, we all want to get what we paid for. standards are important. have you heard about the customer who fronted up to the hamburger counter and asked for a burger that had stale vegetables, raw eggs that were dripping off the sides and beef that was still red with blood? the attendant was totally aghast and proclaimed that they do not serve such a burger and will definitely not serve such a thing to the customer. the customer calmly replied “ well you did so yesterday! ” my experience is that good customer service is about attitude and the culture of the business. it boils down to a personal touch and going the extra mile. concluding remarks finally, i would again like to thank ms. roshika deo for inviting me here this morning. i would also like to thank the distinguished speakers who are contributing to the program – they are all professionals in their own fields and have a lot of experience and knowledge to share with you today. to you participants, i wish you well in your deliberations. official opening i now have much pleasure in declaring this business seminar – increasing productivity and improving customer service open. thank you.

and internet banking. i believe that fiji is at par to what is offered internationally. it is critical that we in the financial sector are ahead of the wider economic reforms. it is inadequate for us to be following behind these reforms. in fact, we should be driving them. the complexities in the financial intermediation are increasing with the development of modern products to better suit the evolving demands of customers. inevitably, it is the central bank that takes a lead role in the modernization of the payments system because of its importance to the economy and the entire financial system. at the same time, such a system facilitates our work as custodian of financial stability. today, payments systems are the top agenda for most central banks. payment modes are wide ranging. cash is the common mode of payment. however, the inconvenience of carrying cash and increasing security threats has encouraged the move towards other payment media. but paper based instruments like cheques and drafts are not so convenient. in modern times, cards and electronic payments are regarded as the most convenient and safer instruments, although they too are subject to certain risks. some experts use the analogy of the “ plumbing design ” to describe payment system where nobody cares if everything is in running condition. however, if one of the pipes burst or the plumbing malfunctions, we will find ourselves in a wet and nasty mess ”. the manual payments system that we have used up to now has served us adequately. but it has its shortcomings. the major one is that it takes too long to clear cheques and this has implications on cash flows and financial performances. second, as i have said, carrying cash has its risks. thirdly, the cost of paper based instruments like cheques is relatively high in fiji adding to the cost of doing business. as i have said before, the smooth functioning of the payment and settlement system contributes to financial stability. with the introduction of fijiclear, where settlement of individual inter - bank fund transfers is on real time all throughout the day, a major source of systemic risk in the financial system has been reduced substantially. financial innovation fijiclear is now another instrument available in fiji to customers through which they can make payments to one another. the global trend is toward electronic real time payment system. world wide the financial landscape has changed driven by a number of factors including growth in financial markets, cross border flows, technological advancement in communication and information technology, changing macroeconomic factors, and globalization of markets and business