of these organizations have committed a lot of efforts and resources to offer financial education to those who need it but are underserved. i am also delighted for our donor partners who have acknowledged the importance of financial inclusion and i look forward to working with you to expand the financial literacy further. goal number three is aimed at putting in place a simple and transparent mechanism to protect consumers of financial services. i am happy to inform us this morning that at the request of the pacific island financial inclusion working group in a meeting last year at the bis central bankers ’ speeches reserve bank of vanuatu, i have agreed that vanuatu will take the lead in implementing the consumer protection goal. the reserve bank is currently working with other related government ministries on this. it is highly expected that the application of a proper consumer protection mechanism will enhance the confidence and trust and encourage low income earners and rural dwellers to access readily available financial services. money pacific goal number four, as an overriding goal, aims to reduce, by half, the number of people who do not have access to even the most basic financial services. ladies and gentlemen, to achieve the common purpose of a great inclusive financial environment, all stakeholders need to work together. the reserve bank of vanuatu in collaboration with the financial inclusion programme and the alliance for financial inclusion has purposely organized this workshop as a starting point to facilitate this partnership work approach. i acknowledge the commitments and efforts taken by the national bank of vanuatu, digicel, vanwods microfinance, the department of cooperative and ni - vanuatu business and other small financial institutions not mentioned, for reaching out and making basic financial services available to the low income earners, women and the remote rural community dwellers in deferent islands throughout the country. financial inclusion strategies can be defined as road maps of actions, agreed and defined at the national level that stakeholders follow to achieve financial inclusion objectives. successful strategies coordinate efforts with the main stakeholders, define responsibilities among them, and state a clear planning of resources by, for example, prioritizing targets. a strategy can promote a more effective and efficient process to achieve significant improvements in financial inclusion, and is ideally prepared with the private sector in order to establish and achieve shared, achievable goals for financial inclusion. the reserve bank of vanuatu, like all other central banks in the region, is committed to promote a coordinated partnership work approach between stakeholders to enhance efficiency and to achieve greater financial inclusion in vanuatu. this commitment was materialized in 2011 when the board mandated the reserve bank

to continue to drive the economy forward but also the industry sector is expected to contribute favorably if the millennium challenge account projects are implemented. the agriculture sector is also anticipated to improve in 2006. • the balance of payment of the country outlook appears favorable. official international reserves have increased to a comfortable level of 6 months of import cover in may 2006, and are expected to continue to increase in 2006.