speech by : loi m bakani cmg, governor, bank of png at the uncdf 50th anniversary 19 january 2017 ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to address you all at this momentous occasion marking uncdf ’ s 50th anniversary. the bank of papua new guinea has had a close relationship with uncdf through the pacific financial inclusion programme ( pfip ) since its inception in 2008. i would like to share with you some of pfip ’ s highlights over the past 9 years. on a regional level, pfip has been instrumental in supporting the role of the central banks in driving the financial inclusion agenda, and actively contributes to the pacific islands regional initiative, a knowledge - sharing platform for the central banks in the pacific region. by the end of september 2016, pfip had reached an impressive cumulative total of over 1. 1 million clients across the pacific, already surpassing the programme ’ s 2019 goal of 1 million clients. these clients are now connected with financial service providers through a variety of financial services including bank accounts, mobile money, micro insurance, microfinance and more. closer to home for us, in papua new guinea alone, pfip partnerships have led to over 400, 000 clients receiving some form of financial service. in papua new guinea, pfip has been supporting the bank of png and the centre for excellence in financial inclusion through support for development and implementation of the country ’ s national financial inclusion strategic plans, the second of which ( spanning from 2016 - 2020 ), you may be aware, was launched recently in december 2016. this new plan has the ambitious target of reaching 2 million more unbanked lowincome papua new guineans, 50 % of whom are women, by 2020. bima is one example showing the tremendous need and potential for financial service in papua new guinea. a recent entrant into the insurance market, bima provides convenient, affordable life and hospitalization insurance cover via a mobile platform to nearly 400, 000 often low - income, financially underserved papua new guineans, the majority are receiving the economic safety net of insurance cover for the first time. pfip ’ s investment grant helped bima expand outreach in the highlands region, reducing delivery costs and improving customer service through and expanded agent network. pfip is currently working with the with department of education, provincial government and bank of png to develop a pilot for financial education integration into technical and vocational

improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes. ” as we see it, the basic function of internal audit is independent appraisal of an institution ’ s internal controls, including controls over financial reporting. simply put, it is about reviewing activities to ensure that they are carried out as intended. of course, a by - product of internal audit will be recommendations on internal control and process improvements that could be made, an important role for internal audit at large and complex financial institutions in particular. the bank of png internal audit charter was drawn up with the assistance from the imf technical advisor and reviewed periodically – by the internal audit department ; it was approved by senior management ( governor ) and subsequently confirmed by the board of directors as part of its oversight role. in the charter, the bank ’ s senior management gives the internal audit department the right of initiative and authorises it to have direct access to and communicate with any member of staff, to examine any activity or entity of the bank, as well as to access any records, files or data of the bank, including management information and the minutes of all consultative and decision - making bodies, whenever relevant to the performance of its assignments. the charter states the terms and conditions according to which the internal audit department can be called upon to provide consulting or advisory services or to carry out other special tasks and the charter is communicated throughout the organisation. to perform their role effectively, internal audit requires organizational independence from management to enable unrestricted evaluation of management activities and personnel. to ensure independence, manager internal audit reports directly to the governor and also has direct access to the audit committee on matters considered of significant importance to the functioning of the bpng. audit committees require the help of internal auditing departments in order for them to be able to effectively fulfill their obligations to the board, the shareholders, and other outside parties who have a stake in the organisation. the contribution of internal auditors as business advisors or consultants to the organisation and their role in ensuring compliance with various statutes, policies and procedures cannot be overemphasized. these new challenges that are faced by internal auditors require them to acquire the necessary skills and competencies on a continuous basis. this makes it necessary for them to place them on a learning path so that they could update themselves with new developments. he / she should know all aspects of the operations in order to perform an effective job as an internal auditor. in this respect, the work done by the institute of internal auditors in