but also in the region and beyond. reserve bank of fiji today i thought of sharing some of my personal experiences with siwa. i first met siwa at the central monetary authority in dominion house in late 1980 when he took over from mr. tomkins as general manager after his return from the imf. he was the first local at the position. so naturally there was a lot of interest on how a local was going to perform in one of the last key national positions to be localized in fiji. very quickly, siwa dispelled any concerns on his ability to lead the central monetary authority. siwa became the first governor of the reserve bank of fiji when the transition occurred in 1984. we honor siwa for his humility, caring and down to earth qualities. but in my assessment, underneath all that was a firm and strong leader. for us that worked under him, we came face to face with his strong leadership qualities in our work. while he mixed easily amongst us, he applied the rules very strictly. i remember the strike that i led when i was a trade union representative at the bank in 1983. at the end of the two week strike, while the union did not get all that we wanted, everyone acknowledged that the resolution was a fair one and was made possible by siwa ’ s compassion and goodwill to the workers. during this rather difficult negotiation and tension, siwa was very calm as he always was in any kind of situation. i could clearly witness the clarity of his thinking and his strong belief in fairness and consistency. siwa was our boss and also our father. i recall one day when he called me into his office. i had applied for a loan for my first car, a small honda civic. you know, siwa adopted a slow drawl when he told people off. when you heard that drawl you knew you were in trouble. in that telling off voice he said “ savenaca, why are you buying a car when you don ’ t have a house. you should buy a house first when you are still young. ” this signified the caring personality that siwa had for everyone. he was strict but ever concerned about our welfare! by the way i got the loan but with the condition that i buy a house within five years which i did. siwa rose in the public limelight as the governor of the reserve bank, a position that he held for 7 years. at that time, the reserve bank was a new

sada reddy : grow your company, grow the economy – have you considered the capital markets opening address by mr sada reddy, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, to the capital markets & listing seminar, suva, 18 august 2010. * * * good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. i thank you all for accepting the rbf ’ s invitation to today ’ s seminar on the topic “ grow your company, grow the economy : have you considered the capital markets. ” just a little over 12 months ago, on august 19, 2009, the administration of the capital markets development authority ( cmda ) was transferred to the reserve bank under the capital markets decree 2009. i am pleased to say that the work on developing the capital markets has continued and in many respects strengthened by the change that has occurred. the capital markets unit has successfully integrated into the reserve bank family and has added a different dimension and skills - set to the bank. i am happy to say that we can expect some major activities and events for the capital markets in the future. in march this year, the reserve bank established the first capital markets development taskforce. the members are daryl tarte, bob niranjan, norman wilson, pradeep patel, lisa apted and myself as chair. this taskforce is a “ think tank ” for the capital markets development work of the reserve bank. let me now turn to today ’ s event. the development of the secondary trading and the stock exchange is a key factor to developing the capital markets in fiji. one of the core functions of a stock exchange is to connect entities with surplus funds to others who require capital. an exchange also facilitates the entire continuous trading and wealth creation process ; thus stimulating economic growth and development. the stock market fulfils a number of vital functions. these include : 1. price discovery through the generation of transparent prices 2. facilitate efficient allocation of resources 3. promote sound risk management and corporate governance structures within publicly listed organisations. consequently, a well functioning capital markets requires the support of strong institutions backed by a well developed legal, accounting, legislative and regulatory framework and a supportive private sector. ladies and gentlemen, the spse has been challenged and continues to be challenged with many issues, some of which are : 1. a number of investors in the share market are large institutional investors who buy and hold, instead of making market with their stocks ; 2. our mums - and - dads investors, who are generally risk averse, have not embraced