esala masitabua : designing inclusive green finance policies and initiatives closing remarks by mr esala masitabua, deputy governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the rbf - afi virtual joint learning programme on inclusive green finance implementation, 21 october 2020. * * * salutations afi colleagues participants, speakers ladies and gentlemen introductory comments ni sa bula vinaka and warm greetings from the reserve bank of fiji ( rbf ). it gives me great pleasure to deliver the closing remarks for this virtual joint learning programme ( jlp ) on inclusive green finance implementation, that we are proudly co - hosting with afi. as each of you would have learnt over the last few days, inclusive green finance ( igf ) is a new and evolving policy area. it is an honour for the rbf and our fellow fijian stakeholders to not only share our experiences with you, but also listen to and learn from the progress of our fellow afi members and the various technical personnel that have shared their expertise over the past three days. as you have heard, dealing with climate change is an issue close to our hearts here in fiji and the pacific. while much of the world ’ s attention is firmly fixed on responding to the covid - 19 pandemic and its economic implications, history tells us that pandemics will pass. the looming climate crisis however has not abated and still firmly remains a threat to decades of development and progress. as central bankers and policy makers responsible for ensuring both financial and macroeconomic stability, we have an obligation to integrate climate change into our business and policy frameworks. i think there is a growing consensus on this, globally. as financial regulators specifically, our opportunity is to steer the financial sector towards serving the needs of the people in mitigating the contributors towards climate change and building long - term resilience. we acknowledge that we will not be able to do this alone and that public and private partnerships will need to be forged in order to ensure that climate financing needs are met. in this regard, we are grateful to afi for the opportunity to co - host this jlp in order to interact with countries that have made great strides in developing frameworks conducive to enhancing inclusive green finance. designing igf policies and initiatives at the beginning of this virtual jlp, we heard inspiring remarks from governor ali and dr hannig that laid the foundation for the sessions that ensued. following this, we learnt that while we have a comprehensive 4p i

barry whiteside : brief comments on fiji ’ s economy opening address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the launch of bsp life ’ s new “ bula elite ” product, suva, 13 june 2013. * * * mr. robin fleming, chief executive officer, bsp group mr. kevin mccarthy, bsp fiji country manager mr. malakai naiyaga, managing director, bsp life limited members of the board, management and staff of bsp life limited and bank south pacific distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen introductory comments bula vinaka and a very good evening to you all! i am delighted to be here this evening at yet another key bsp event, this time to launch bsp life ’ s new bula elite product. thank you, malakai, for your kind invitation. since establishing its presence in fiji, the bsp group has elevated the standards of innovation for financial products and services in both banking and insurance, and has become a leading player in both industries. the launch of another life product is a further endorsement of the success of the bsp group and the key role it plays in fiji ’ s financial system. we at the reserve bank are seeing the flow - on effects of such business success in our domestic economy, through increased positive sentiments and actions by the private sector. let me therefore make some comments on the economy. economic update & outlook we all know that fiji is a small open economy – so what happens globally will generally find its way back to us in one form or the other. while global growth is trending upwards, it is really being pulled along by growth in the major emerging economies ( or the brics as we refer to them ). in contrast, slowdowns are forecast for most of our trading partners in 2013, with much of the eurozone in recession and having been there for the last 4 to 6 quarters. but all this has not dampened our own recent domestic output and the forecasts we have set for the near term. on the domestic front, gdp growth this year is forecast at 2. 7 percent, a little improvement on the 2. 5 estimated for 2012. an important takeaway is that our growth is broad - based with almost all sectors making a positive contribution. in 2013, growth is being led by agriculture, manufacturing, the finance and construction sectors. while we know that investment is the “ driver ” of growth, it is the private sector that is the recognized “