the formal banking system. we understand the role digital transformation will play in our economic growth and financial inclusion but one of the key challenges we face are those of secure identity for our remote citizens. as a png citizen, i know how difficult, costly and time - consuming it can be to secure identity documents and this becomes an insurmountable challenge when you come from a rural village with little access to our formal sector. we worked with the adb and a private company, digizen, to develop the first digital i. d. product made specifically for papua new guinea. 6 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches through this process we better understood what we, as the regulator, need to consider for the adoption of digital identities for banking. to strengthen our systems and encourage the use of digital ids, the financial analysis and supervision unit, fasu, responsible for overseeing the anti - money laundering and counter terrorism financing act, has issued a guidance document for digital identity that is currently under review by regulated financial institutions. all going well, it should be launched shortly and it will provide direction to our financial institutions on digital identity requirements. we are also working to identify policies and practices that, in the past, would have deterred people from opening and using bank services. these include, but are not limited to, the high cost of transaction fees and account charges. as we identify key barriers, we will implement more initiatives to promote the use of the formal financial system and significantly lower our people's reliance on cash. we also want to introduce more products that help our rural communities. our regulatory sandbox has commenced testing of another new product, pinbox, which will work with insurance and pension providers for all papua new guineans to have the option to save for their retirement through high - quality products from reputable providers – no matter where they are located or what their incomes are. the bank of papua new guinea is taking steps to ensure a modern and inclusive financial system that delivers the best outcomes for our people. we cannot continue to do the same things and expect a different result. we need to adopt policies consistent with a modern, international and growing economy. this may sometimes require bold – and perhaps unpopular – decisions, but we know they are the right ones to build the foundation for the future success of papua new guinea. thank you for inviting me to present today. i look forward to the remainder of this session and the discussion to follow. 7 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches

more collaborative discussions also in the areas of macro - prudential and general risk - based supervision. such discussions should translate to some initiatives for future capacity building and implementation of frameworks in our respective jurisdictions. financial inclusion and financial literacy ladies and gentlemen, we all know that a greater majority of our people in the pacific are financially excluded or unbanked. there is a clear call for action in the area of financial inclusion and financial literacy. since the setting of the alliance for financial inclusion ( afi ), central banks globally, and clearly in our region also, are taking the forefront in leading efforts to ensure banking services reach the unbanked. almost all pacific islands central banks have announced their commitment to the afi maya declaration with timor leste being the latest in the region to declare its commitment in the recent afi global policy forum this month. bis central bankers ’ speeches it is not the traditional activity of the central banks to lead this work but we cannot sit back and expect something to just happen, for we know that nothing happen in the past. we have to develop policy frameworks and provide environments conducive for our financial institutions to bring their banking services to the un - banked. the central banks have succeeded in undertaking lead roles due to their institutional credibility to ensure that the unbanked populations in the region is included in the monetization of our respective economies. human capacity development ladies and gentlemen, in order for us to enhance our supervisory approaches and to effectively discharge our supervisory responsibilities as mentioned, we need to develop our human capacity and equip our supervisors well. we have to continue to put emphasis and resources in this area to ensure our human capital is in tune with constant changes in risk profiles of our financial sectors. you would have noticed that the skill set required for supervision has expanded as financial services have become complex. the constant adoption of technological innovations and enhanced financial products being developed and offered by our financial institutions means that we also need to train and develop technically competent supervisors to keep abreast with the changes. conclusion before i finish, i wish everyone a fruitful week. i am sure that at the end of this week, you will have discussed issues, challenges and developments in your respective supervisory jurisdiction and your plans going forward. i presume these discussions and networking with each other will be very beneficial in our efforts to have a sound and stable financial system in our region. having said that i wish everyone who has travelled in a memorable and enjoyable stay in port moresby.