the back, let us not get complacent. rather, let us be inspired to further push the boundaries and produce more tangible results in our countries and across the region. financial inclusion is about thinking outside the box, because what is required is beyond the norm. what is required is innovative thinking. i therefore invite us to put on our collective thinking caps in this regard. allow me to suggest a few issues for possible deliberation over the next two days. financial inclusion usage the financial inclusion monitoring framework, according to international standards, looks at access, usage and quality indicators. financial access points are just the building blocks. what is important is getting our people to understand and use these financial products and services. for example, even though remitting funds through mobile phones is perhaps the cheapest of the channels, we still see other alternative expensive mediums being used. we ask the question, why is this so? as a working group, we need to see the translation to active usage of all these positive developments. it is promising to note that we are beginning to gain ground on the financial access points being now visible in our countries, but this must simultaneously be accompanied by active usage. this will provide economies of scale for the provider and, therefore, the sustainability of a particular product or service. bis central bankers ’ speeches diagnostic exercises – surveys during the next two days, i think it would be timely if we can deliberate on why there is low uptake for certain financial products and services, for instance mobile financial services. i know answers to some of these questions can only be determined by asking the very people on the ground, the intended customers. to this end we need to work towards a national demand survey in our respective countries. piwg may also explore the idea of a progress out of poverty index ( ppi ). the index measures, assesses and tracks the poverty level over time and is a tool that is statistically sound, yet simple in its implementation. remittances and msmes remittances are another important area for us. what can be done to improve remittance flows, as they can play a pivotal role in advancing financial inclusion in our countries? similarly the encouragement of micro, small and medium enterprises is another crucial area in the financial inclusion sphere. what do we need to do to further develop and grow these sectors in our economy? developments in fiji ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to give you a quick update on developments in fiji after our last

such as education, food, shelter and clothing. smes give people the dignity of working for a living. theme : towards a national strategy for growing sustainable msmes promoting the development of msmes is vital to raise our future prospects and our standard of living. that is why forums such as this one today are so critical. not only must we come together to discuss, share ideas, brain - storm and strategize ways to foster this development but we must also make the public in general fully aware of the importance of this sector and of their potential and needs. i am pleased to note that the objectives of the forum seek to address this. i am also pleased to note that the national centre intends for the forum to cover issues under the topics of financing, entrepreneurship, environment and exports as these are all very important issues as regards msmes. let me now say a few words on environment. right environment is critical i think it is clearly obvious to us all how critical it is to have in place the right environment, to allow the msme sectors to grow. this environment must be created with sound policies and appropriate infrastructure and support services. it must be stable – politically, economically and socially. as we have observed, if the environment is not conducive it scares away visitors, scares away investors, and businesses are amongst the first to feel the negative repercussions. the phrase that we are a part of the “ global village ” remains highly applicable for us ; if we don ’ t have the right environment in place, if we don ’ t nurture and feed such an environment, then we are swimming against the tide. if we don ’ t have the right environment in place, there are so many other countries that tourists and holiday - makers can go to instead of fiji, and that investors can put their money into just as readily, if not easily, than in fiji. we are already offering all kinds of enticements to lure tourists and investors to our shores : reduced hotel rates and airfares, tax breaks of various kinds for investors and so on. but these types of “ carrots ” won ’ t be effective if the environment is unstable. let me highlight other constraints that may be impeding the growth of msmes in fiji. areas that need addressing statistics the first is the lack of data or statistics on msmes. you heard me earlier say “ smes probably make up only about 10 percent of our economy ” and that “ rough estimates suggest