bank would like to see the west new britain savings and loan society operating, enabling the people of this province to benefit from other financial services. this will involve the support and commitment of the provincial authorities. as part of the central bank ’ s educational efforts, besides giving talks to high school students, we also distribute books to high schools in those centres the board visits. on behalf of the board, i am presenting to the provincial education authorities some textbooks to the value of k1, 000 for each high school in the west new britain province. on behalf of the board, the deputy governor, the management and staff of the central bank, i would like to once again thank the provincial authorities, the chamber of commerce, and the management and staff of the kimbe bay hotel, liamo reef resort and walindi resort for making our stay here in kimbe a pleasant one. thank you and god bless.

focused on the area of financial service and financial inclusion as a vehicle to empower our people in the informal economy to participate in the development process as this area concerns the bank. but as we all know there are other areas of services - education, transport infrastructure, health, etc - that needs to be improved as well for our rural population. this is the responsibility of other agents in the country. indeed, the vision 2050 calls for a better service delivery model in the country. improvement in these areas together with improvement in financial inclusion and literacy will go a long way in empowering the people in the informal economy and the whole economy to realize their potentials in contributing to the development of the country as aspired in the national constitution, and now the vision 2050. while the informal economy is being recognized through the act of 2004 and now the launching of the policy, there are others who can pick on some negatives, as in many initiatives. in particular, some may view the urban squatter settlements as the source for those who participate in informal activities. port moresby for instance has seen an increase in the number of settlements and expansion of existing ones. many of the informal sector street vendors, for instance, come from settlements. the informal activities occur outside shops and at bus stops and provide an avenue for opportunists to steal / pick pocket from people of both formal and informal economies / sectors. mothers and school children have fallen victims. these negative aspects must be minimized as stated in the mission statement. on the whole, there should be more positives that would outweigh the negatives if done and enforced properly. other agents such as the law enforcement bodies must play 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches their part in controlling the daily negative aspects of informal activities on the streets and weed out those who resort to petty crimes to earn a living, while also not unreasonably chasing mothers and stealing their items ( like betelnuts ) for sale. the launching of the informal economy policy will provide the necessary step for the development of the informal economy towards the realization of that dream - of greater participation of the mass of our population in economic activities that will improve their income and life style, and contribute to the growth and development of the economy. thank you. 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches