flow freely around the globe. technology has provided the locomotive for these to reach the remote parts of the globe. so while we may say or feel in fiji that we do not need to worry to much about these activities, let me tell you today that the evidences show otherwise. fiji is not immune. recent arrests have surprised everyone that such sophisticated crimes can happen under our very noses. we are part of the global village whether we like it or not. i believe that globalization is here to stay. therefore, while the center of these international crimes is definitely not in fiji, their ramifications will reach us. to be successful, the fight against crime must be a universal one. like water which will find its way to the lowest possible level, criminal will find the easiest spot through which to operate or launder their illegal funds. fiji must take its place in this crusade. we must join the global community in taking all necessary measures to make life difficult for these criminals. the global financial system is now under immense stress. but it has evolved and matured particularly in the last 20 years and is now much harder today to hide criminally derived funds then it was before that. unfortunately, criminals are also rising to the occasion and changing money laundering methods and techniques to overcome these barriers. that is exactly why we are here today at fiji ’ s first national anti - money laundering conference – to protect fiji from money laundering. public awareness is an important weapon in our battle. the fiu has been busy in undertaking this public awareness. such conferences as this that bring everyone together in one room are extremely useful. i would like to acknowledge this and congratulate all of you for your participation. i thank the fiu for this initiative and the arrangements made for the conference. establishment of the fiu the financial intelligence unit is spearheading our fight against this crime. i would therefore like to say something briefly on the establishment and the current arrangement of the fiu. for many years the reserve bank of fiji has been following the progress in the international efforts to fight money laundering. it was quite obvious that every country was being asked to take the necessary measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. we convinced government that fiji also needed to do the same. as the custodian of the financial system, it was quite obvious to me that the reserve bank will need to spearhead the work on anti money laundering which we did. the fiu was then temporarily set up in the reserve bank as we developed

– make it happen ”. i have always said that we just love to talk. we are forever setting up committees. the only growth industry now is conferences. we study that. we review that. we review the review and so forth. what we very much lack is action. it is action that makes things happen. i believe that if we all implement 50 percent of what we say we will do, we will be far better off than where we are today. how do we get result oriented? i believe that we must have the right incentives first and foremost. money is not everything. there are many other effective ways to incentivise people than money. secondly, we must have clear goals that are measurable. you cannot achieve what you cannot measure. and lastly, monitoring of the deliverables must be timely and objective. seminar theme you have chosen productivity and ethics as the theme of your seminar. how do you link the two? are they correlated? i believe so. the climate of the work place is extremely important to our peace of mind and our motivation. high work standards and ethics set the right mood for that work environment. everyone is happy. no one is victimized or unfairly treated. in such a place, you will find that productivity is very high. and it again starts with me — not her, him or they! the most powerful way to promote ethical behavior is to set a good example and be a role model. corporate governance a buzz word nowadays is good corporate governance. we must be all accountable to someone. last week i helped launch a book – “ a voice of reason – the writings of savenaca siwatibau ”. mr. siwatibau was the first governor of the reserve bank of fiji. he was a strong advocate of good governance. in this book, mr. siwatibau spoke about managing subordinates, colleagues and bosses ; mainstreaming youth into development, corruption : impediment to good governance ; corporate governance : roles of directors and leadership : i recommend this book to everyone. concluding remarks there is another small book that i recommend reading – “ who moved my cheese? ” it is a small book that you can finish in an hour. it talked about a time when everything is rosy. we are comfortable of where we are that we do not see the small changes that are happening around us until suddenly we find out that someone has moved our cheese. when this happens to us, what do we do?