denton rarawa : financial inclusion in solomon islands remarks by mr denton rarawa, governor of central bank of solomon islands, on the occasion of the presentation of the g2p study findings, honiara, 10 december 2014. * * * salutation : dfat representatives, other distinguished guests – reps from government ministries, commercial bank reps, telecommunication companies, and other financial institutions, nfit members and cbsi, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. let me thank you for taking the time to be here with us. today ’ s event is to present to stakeholders the findings of the government to persons ( g2p ) study conducted by the cbsi ( financial inclusion team ) and the united nations pacific financial inclusion programme ( pfip ) with funding assistance from the department of foreign affairs & trade, government of australia. financial inclusion in solomon islands before we listen to the findings, let me briefly explain what financial inclusion means for solomon islands and how we are driving this agenda in this country. financial inclusion is an important agenda in solomon islands and is driven by the national financial inclusion task force ( nfit ) and the cbsi. we will hear a progress update during the session today but let me briefly explain what it means for solomon islands. when we talk about financial inclusion we consider 4 dimensions of : ( 1 ) access to financial services, ( 2 ) usage of financial services, ( 3 ) quality of financial services, and ( 4 ) the impact financial service has on the lives of an individual. the nfit has identified key areas and has outlined strategies and action plans in our endeavour to address the financial inclusion agenda in this country. one key area that was identified was the provision and availability of data, particularly demand side data or market information. this is very crucial for evidence - based policies and market decisions by the private sector. so far few surveys have been conducted by cbsi in partnership with pfip, such as the financial competency survey on low income households, the market vendor survey and now the g2p survey. next will be the financial inclusion market demand side survey. these surveys and those yet to come are aimed at providing better information to both policy makers and the private sector in the area of financial inclusion. g2p aims to improve delivery of bulk payment type transactions. g2p aims at addressing efficiency of bulk payments by the government particularly through the use of digital financial services. i was told that around

denton rarawa : financial inclusion opening address by mr denton rarawa, governor of central bank of solomon islands, at the 10th meeting of the pacific islands working group ( piwg ) on “ financial inclusion ”, honiara, 12 – 14 february 2013. * * * salutations governor loi bakani ; deputy governor peter tari ; deputy governor gane simbe ; co - chairs ms lana lome - ieremia and vereimi levula ; resource persons for the data workshop ms sandford and mr dermish ; representatives from our key partners : mr reuben summerlin and jeff liew from pacific pfip and mr eliki boletawa from afi ; other participants of the pacific islands working group ( piwg ) meeting ; ladies and gentlemen ; welcome to solomon islands good morning and let me warmly welcome you all to solomon islands. thank all of you for making time to attend this 10th piwg meeting. i am delighted to see a lot of familiar faces. and it is good to see everyone smiling this morning even though some of you have travelled a long way to be here. pacific islands working group – a family committed to each other the idea to set up the pacific islands working group was endorsed during the south pacific governors meeting here in honiara in 2009. so this meeting can be described as the piwg coming back to its roots. the exciting agendas before us and the opportunities to share country experiences amongst members during these three days are the main reasons why we are all here. i think it is important to regularly remind ourselves of the objectives of piwg, when it was established four years ago. the objectives of piwg are as follows : • to identify barriers and challenges to financial inclusion unique to the pacific, and formulate appropriate policy responses. • to work together to advance financial inclusion policy in the region, • to learn from each other as members develop and implement policy solutions for financial inclusion. i commend the piwg for taking a collaborative approach to addressing the financial inclusion issues and challenges in the region by working together and sharing our individual experiences. we face similar but also different “ country - specific ” challenges. for example, our countries are separated by the sea but the level of separation differs between countries. with these inherent challenges, we have no choice but to work together as a group. i believe that is what we have done and already we have made progress and achieved a lot in our respective countries. we have ensured