maiava atalina ainuu enari : educating individuals to manage their personal finances opening remarks by ms maiava atalina ainuu enari, governor of the central bank of samoa, at the moneypacific “ money guide ” launch, apia, 2 april 2014. * * * members of the diplomatic community youth and education directors of the church denominations present today our moneypacific partners – kim hailwood and becky de beer - lamont distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen it is indeed an honour for me to address this gathering today, at this important milestone in the partnership of the moneypacific project and the central bank of samoa. the moneypacific project was established in 2007 under the umbrella of the nz - pacific remittances ’ project which stands to help reduce costs of sending money within the pacific region, and has concurrently worked hard to lift pacific communities awareness of the need to prudently manage their personal finances. we have worked closely with the moneypacific programme over the recent years and we consider them a great ally in the promotion of financial inclusion and financial literacy here in samoa. in a moment kim and becky will elaborate more on the moneypacific initiative and its latest resource but before that i would like to take a few moments to talk a little bit more on why financial literacy is important to the central bank of samoa. “ financial literacy ” or “ the set of skills and knowledge that allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources ” is an important life - skill in our diverse capacities as students, employees, consumers, savers and investors etc. by now you may wonder as to why how you manage your personal finances is of any interest to the bank? you may wonder as to why the bank should care on how best you can manage your personal finances? the answer is simply this – we believe that economic development can be fostered by educating individuals on how best to manage their personal finances. we don ’ t have to rely on the big businesses or other forces for this – each and every one of us has the potential to foster economic development. therefore we stand before you today not as leaders or dictators of your wallets and purses, but as counterparts on a way to forward our future financial prospects. and so it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you a tool designed to help you take charge of your personal finances and take you closer to realizing your full potential as agents of economic development – the moneypacific money guide

leasi papali ’ i scanlan : financial inclusion and mobile banking in samoa address by mr leasi papali ’ i scanlan, governor of the central bank of samoa, at the official opening of the workshop / information exchange on “ financial inclusion and mobile banking in samoa ”, apia, 20 january 2010. * * * at the outset, i would like to thank all of you for accepting our invitation to participate in today ’ s workshop on mobile money and mobile banking, which are two key strategies for implementing what is known as financial inclusion. i would also like to extend a warm welcome to our partners on financial inclusion in the pacific, mr. tillman bruett and mr. michael mccaffrey of the united nations capital development fund ’ s pacific financial inclusion program. as stated in our invitation letter, you have been identified as individuals and representatives of organizations with the potential to make a significant contribution to financial inclusion and financial literacy ; especially those of you with an interest in mobile telephones and financial services businesses in general. i trust that the free exchange of your valuable knowledge and experiences, will not only greatly benefit the other participants of today ’ s workshop but also financial inclusion ( as a whole ) in samoa. in july 2009, i attended a pacific regional meeting in fiji to discuss the advent of microfinance in the pacific. at this meeting, i was introduced to the concept of financial inclusion, and i was subsequently convinced of its relevance and importance to samoa. as you will be hearing from mr. tillman bruett, financial inclusion is simply described as the extension of financial services, at affordable costs, to reach those that are classified as the “ unbanked ”. these are people who have little or no access to formal financial services generally, not only as a result of the lack of financial education, but also due to their rural and isolated locations or low incomes. the purpose of the many financial inclusion strategies that are being implemented around the world, is to connect these “ unbanked ” people with the formal banking system, to enable them benefit from the various financial services that are available, and thus help equip them with the confidence to make informed financial decisions. financial inclusion has the potential to play a very important role in samoa ’ s economic development. traditionally, much of the efforts of the central bank of samoa ( like most other central banks in the world ) have been concentrated on promoting financial and economic stability, on the “ macro ” level. unfortunately