barry whiteside : fiji ’ s financial inclusion goals welcome address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the stakeholder engagement workshop, suva, 4 april 2016. * * * excellency, ms litia mawi, roving ambassador for fiji mr mark flaming, manager, pacific financial inclusion program ( pfip ) mr eliki boletawa, head of policy, programmes & regional initiatives, alliance for financial inclusion ( afi ) permanent secretaries and ceos senior government officials colleagues ladies and gentlemen ni sa bula vinaka and a very good morning to you all! welcome we are honoured to have so many government officials here today and it is with great pleasure that i welcome you all to this workshop, which has been jointly organised by the alliance for financial inclusion ( afi ), the pacific financial inclusion programme ( pfip ) and the reserve bank of fiji. on behalf of the reserve bank and the national financial inclusion taskforce i wish to also express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to the alliance for financial inclusion and the pacific financial inclusion programme, for their continuing commitment and support of financial inclusion in fiji. introduction ladies and gentlemen, let me begin by explaining why we have invited you here today. the key objective of this workshop is to further engage government and cultivate a truly broad based commitment to financial inclusion initiatives for fiji. in one sentence, financial inclusion is all about providing relevant and affordable financial services and, importantly, the accompanying knowledge, to all our people, to enable them to improve their lives and wellbeing. financial inclusion is a key ingredient in fiji ’ s current 5 - and 20 - year national development plans which promote “ a better fiji for all ”. as stated in the plans, “ a better fiji for all ” means more employment opportunities, a decrease in income inequalities and significant reduction in poverty, empowerment of women, and greater social and economic progress in the less - developed regions of our country - all leading to a better balance in our rural and urban livelihoods. all these issues are aligned to the strategic goals of our soon - to - be launched second national financial inclusion strategic plan ( 2016 – 2020 ), of which you will hopefully hear more during the course of today. to put things in perspective, allow me to briefly share some key outcomes of fiji ’ s recent financial inclusion journey. some of you may already be aware of the developments and achievements which have already been implemented, but for others, this may help

##sing sustainable transaction volumes by moving social welfare payments, wages, lease payments and other g2p ( government to people ) payments onto electronic channels and ensuring that these channels are linked to easily accessible, basic transaction accounts. i am pleased to note the efforts by various departments in moving away from cash pay - outs to direct bank deposits. by doing this it has enabled many of the recipients to actually own a bank account for the very first time! keeping the momentum coming back to our second national financial inclusion strategy ( 2016 – 2020 ) which is one of the key topics of today ’ s workshop. this is a five year plan with measureable targets to guide the collaboration amongst multiple stakeholders and is part of the national agenda to contribute to a deep, competitive and stable financial system : an inclusive financial system that provides all fijians irrespective of social and economic background, an equal opportunity to improve their livelihoods. the key, ladies and gentlemen, is partnership and coordination. this is the reason for the workshop today, to get your understanding and buy in and hopefully your partnership. closing in closing, i thank you once again for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this workshop. i urge you to openly discuss ways in which government may better assist us in helping drive towards our financial inclusion goals. in the end it is all about helping our people and give them that hand up to a better life. i wish you all fruitful and productive day of sharing. vinaka. bis central bankers ’ speeches