give out today recognises the successes of young and individual micro - entrepreneurs, micro - business partnerships and micro service providers. this year we received the highest number of submissions mainly from viti levu and a few from vanua levu, taveuni, lau and gau. the submissions have been assessed by a panel of three judges representing the ministry of women, children & poverty alleviation, the university of the south pacific and the reserve bank of fiji. the individual, partnership and youth categories were assessed on business growth, use of local resources and creativity, reserve bank of fiji adequate book - keeping, sustainability and compliance with government regulations. for the institution category, assessments focused on outreach, delivery channels and use of innovative technology and client protection. closing i wish to take this time to congratulate all our finalists that have joined us from around the country today despite the weather conditions. you have done an incredible job to get to where you are today and should be proud of your achievements. to our award recipients, we trust that you will put your prizes to good use in expanding your businesses and furthering your entrepreneurial dreams. i also wish to acknowledge and thank the government for its continuous support towards our work and initiatives on msme development, particularly mitt, the honourable minister and our chief guest, the permanent secretary for taking time out from his busy schedule to attend tonight ’ s function. lastly and certainly not the least, i wish to once again acknowledge the great support of all our sponsors – thank you for your commitment. it is our hope that the success stories we highlight today will inspire others to capitalise on opportunities, start their own businesses and continue to support the micro enterprise sector. vinaka vakalevu, and i wish you all an enjoyable evening.

as a third of our population, who are mostly women and rural dwellers, still do not have access to affordable and appropriate financial services. to complicate matters, reserve bank of fiji there are times when our role in driving the country ’ s financial inclusion agenda is called into question since it falls outside the scope of traditional central banking responsibilities. however, i am pleased to provide assurance that the reserve bank will continue to contribute and support initiatives for the development of msmes as they greatly complement our role in the development of the fijian economy. contribution to economic growth i read in a speech given at a similar occasion that “ governments do not create jobs, the private sector does. and that within the private sector, smes are central to that endeavour. ” as a leader in an organisation that has its vision of “ leading fiji to economic success ”, i cannot agree more with that statement. we recognise the important role that msmes play in creating jobs as they provide the bulk of employment in the country, and in turn support economic growth. the unprecedented economic growth that fiji has achieved in the last 8 consecutive years is also attributed to our growing micro and sme sectors. in most countries, the sme sector accounts for almost 90 percent of all businesses. there are some estimates that for fiji, msmes account for around 60 percent of employment as everyone cannot be employed in the formal sector. by allowing people to help and create employment opportunities for themselves, we are effectively contributing towards reducing poverty and increasing standards of living. as a result there is less reliance on government in terms of receiving social welfare. reserve bank of fiji however, personally, one of the most important attributes that i admire about micro - businesses is their ability to empower people to determine their individual paths. the msme industry is very close to my heart because i have experienced work in it first - hand. my father operated a micro enterprise in the fisheries sector employing 2 - 3 others and it was his hard work and sacrifices that paid for my school fees and education. my family is still engaged in micro and small enterprise work today. when i hear about your stories, i am reminded of the struggles and challenges that my father and our family had to endure, especially because in those days there was little to no support from the government and other stakeholders specifically for msmes. that is why i fully support this initiative and i am confident that it will enable you to make positive changes in your own lives. awards the microfinance awards that we