s understanding of financial services through financial education and literacy. we have made progress in some areas but a lot of work still needs to be done. some of our recent achievements include : • new cbsi act : a new cbsi act was passed by parliament in november last year and one of the new provisions in the law is to specifically include financial inclusion as a mandate of the bank. this now formalises the bank ’ s involvement in financial inclusion activities. • review of legal framework : and to ensure that our other laws also support these efforts, we have, with adb support, completed a review of other laws and policies last year to ensure any legal impediments to financial services innovation are identified and addressed. • simplified kyc requirements : one of the barriers is the stringent bank requirements for opening bank accounts. so in collaboration with the anti money laundering commission, we have issued to the commercial banks simple requirements for identifying customers when opening bank accounts. this will make it easier for more rural people to open accounts with the banks. • financial education : in partnership with the ministry of education, we have set up a working committee to integrate financial education into the national school curriculum, targeting class one up to form three. the revision of the curriculum has bis central bankers ’ speeches been done but further work is required to prepare course materials and train teachers. • adult financial literacy : this is a very important area for us, given the low literacy level in the country especially among rural adults. the central bank is actively engaged in financial literacy through its money smart day programs, its weekly money matters radio program, and also through financial literacy workshops for communities and women groups. these achievements have been possible because of close collaboration and partnership with key stakeholders. working together with other stakeholders is critical if we are to achieve the goals and objectives we have set ourselves in terms of financial inclusion. i am sure this is also true for your respective countries. but i think our biggest weakness is trying to measure what we have done. how are we performing against our set targets? this is where data and indicators become very important. we need relevant data to measure progress and review our performance. and i am delighted to note that the whole of tomorrow is devoted to this very important issue. concluding remarks i would like to conclude by reiterating the importance of continuing to work together to address our common challenges as we strive to enable more of our people benefit from financial services. at the same time i would like to register our appreciation to

both of our key partners, the pacific financial inclusion program ( pfip ) and alliance for financial inclusion ( afi ) for the tremendous support to piwg. this support has enabled the group to progress their financial inclusion agendas and hopefully to make an impact in our countries and also on the international stage. finally, i would like to wish you all a lively, interesting and productive meeting. thank you for your kind attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches