of local output – similar to gross domestic product, or gdp, at the national level. the measures provide a more complete gauge of activity than the employment report, which is another important metric at the state and regional levels. we have also constructed a consumer credit panel to track local household credit conditions at the county and even the zip code level, including the amount and type of personal debt and whether payments are being made in a timely way. in addition, we conduct a periodic poll about the credit needs of small businesses in the region, which are an important source of new jobs. we are just launching our latest poll that also includes questions about the skill needs of small businesses and whether the right kinds of skilled labor are available. almost 900 businesses responded to our last poll, some of which were from this area. if you, as a representative of a small business, would like to participate in our current poll, please pass your card to my colleagues, who are in the audience, or see me after the speech and we will be glad to add you as a respondent. results from our prior polls stressed the problem of access to capital. in response we held two workshops at the bank in december. in the first workshop, senior officers from the export - import bank, the small business administration and the department of commerce described the various loan programs available to small businesses from their agencies, as well as programs to help identify markets. the second workshop reviewed the business plans of 40 small businesses and matched them with potential lenders. we plan to hold a similar workshop in upstate new york this year. as you know, even states that are wealthier, such as new york, have large pockets of poverty. so, we target some of our work specifically to low - and moderate - income groups. we have worked hard to help neighborhoods that face high foreclosure rates, although much remains to be done. we have provided housing advocates with the latest information on mortgage conditions, via mortgage briefs, roundtables, presentations and newsletters. we have developed an interactive online tool that shows monthly delinquency and foreclosure conditions, which we believe will aid the work of housing counselors and other parties seeking to help these communities. it is available on our website along with data and information useful to policymakers, business people and the public. we use our website to share what we learn about our diverse district, and you will find extensive detailed information about the region at the site. i invite you

unbanked. investors and institutions have shown keen interest in setting up and conducting microfinance services in fiji. i am pleased to note that one such operator with an established presence on other pacific island countries did set up business here in 2010. donors have also indicated their intentions to assist the country to establish the necessary support structures and institutions to develop our microfinance sector. all these are interesting financial sector developments and i would like to acknowledge all our stakeholders for their efforts. challenges in microfinance let me touch briefly on some of the challenges that we face in pursuing the development of financial inclusion and microfinance. institutions conducting financial inclusion and microfinance activities in fiji can face a variety of obstacles in providing effective services to the unbanked. some of these challenges are macro in nature, such as prohibitive economic and investment policies and poor infrastructure. others are more micro and may revolve around the institutions themselves, their approaches towards microfinance and the way they conduct their business. typical challenges institutions may face in extending financial services into the rural and maritime areas in fiji are poor infrastructure, technology reach and transportation. basic things such as proper roads, shipping routes, power, and communication towers may be lacking. these are needed by institutions in order to extend innovative financial services like rural mobile banking, mobile phone money services and eftpos banking into the unbanked areas. tin requirements for all persons will need to be better coordinated so as to ensure the unbanked are conveniently able to open bank accounts. bis central bankers ’ speeches developing and extending appropriate and sustainable financial services for clients in this sector can go a long way towards building strong relationships, and instilling brand image in the communities, which could reap enormous returns in the long term. objective of the workshop ladies and gentlemen, the theme of the workshop this year is “ extending financial services outreach to the next level ”. while we may say that much has been achieved over the last fourteen months in the area of financial inclusion and microfinance in fiji, there is still room to do more. we have been clearly thrown a challenge by our theme. as key stakeholders, we want you to realistically review what has been achieved so far, by the national financial inclusion taskforce, the three working groups and by yourselves, that have contributed to this development. by the end of this workshop, we need to come up with recommendations of things that can be taken up in the next phase, by developing strategies and