and portfolios of financial securities through products such as savings and insurances, is vital. women are critical part of the informal economy and make enormous contributions to the economy. investing in women ’ s economic empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. while i have been encouraged by our progress in papua new guinea of women led micro - businesses, increased women with bank accounts and increased women recipients of financial literacy training – but more must be done. it is not just about having a gender specific numerical target of additional bank accounts – it ’ s important that structural reforms enhance women ’ s roles and contribution to the economy. development finance, sdgs and financial inclusion in the region let me draw your attention to the links between development finance, the sustainable development goals ( sdgs ) and financial inclusion in the region. global experience shows that financial inclusion has a significant impact on lifting the ultra - poor and poor out of poverty in a number of countries, and the asia - pacific is no exception. financial inclusion plays a critical role across a range of sectors vital to sustainable development. the pacific forum leaders sdgs roadmap, seeks to ensure that member countries and development partners are able to deliver on the sdgs. central to the success of the roadmap is country ownership and a specific focus on sdg 17, which looks at the means of implementation – including partnerships and secure development finance for the attainment of the sdgs as a whole. the key tenets of financial inclusion overlap significantly with the current regional agenda on financing for development. development financing, which includes climate and disaster finance, combined with financial literacy and financial empowerment is crucial to mobilise finance for development and adaptation initiatives across the region. pacific island countries require additional finance for long - term development, on top of the required resources to address sudden economic shocks and extreme weather events. distinguished guests will note for instance that recent cyclones in the pacific region in fiji, samoa, tonga and vanuatu, have on average wiped out around 30 - 60 % of the national economy. a devastating impact by anyone ’ s measure. in recent years, forum economic ministers have decided to look at innovative financing solutions for regional and national initiatives – including the use of resources within the region, such as our superannuation funds and excess liquidity in the banking sector. of course, such proposals are still under development. furthermore, development partners and private, public partnerships and collaborations are looking into options for increased accessibility to climate and disaster finance

rural population ; bis central bankers ’ speeches • cefi is expected to achieve three major outputs. these include strengthening of financial institutions that implement financial inclusion programmes, training on financial literacy and business development services to build the capacities of clients and micro businesses, and by establishing industry standards by working with network. broadly speaking, cefi will operate through four major verticals – : financial inclusion, financial service delivery, information exchange and gender. • under financial inclusion initiatives, cefi will aim to promote financial inclusion agenda and innovation, co - ordinate and support financial inclusion activities, introduce best practices in the financial sector, promote product and channel innovations such as mobile and agent - based banking, create a talent pipeline for financial inclusion activities and facilitate financial literacy. • cefi will contribute to financial service delivery by working with bpng to develop industry benchmarks, arranging for technical assistance to fis, acting as a centre of excellence and nurturing a network of practitioners and service providers. • cefi ’ s interventions in the direction of information exchange will largely be focussed on building and maintaining a database of technical assistance for regulated and un - regulated microfinance institutions and act as a repository of knowledge and training material. • cefi will also lay special focus on promoting gender equality in the areas of financial services delivery. government support prime minister, the national government support in the establishment and out - scaling of micro - financing, and thereby financial inclusion nationwide into different parts of png, is pleasing. it is also pleasing to see the national government subsidising education so that formal education can reach the rural masses. however, what has been lacking is the development of financial education materials, particularly development of curriculum ( s ) so that “ financial education ” can be mainstreamed to all levels and forms of education and educational institutions in png. i urge the department of education to come forward and work with the bank of png, to actively develop and disseminate important financial education materials to all schools and further financial inclusion. bpng initiatives with students accounts in the meantime, the bank of png has taken some initiatives in working with financial institutions to developing banking products such as student accounts to make available to school - age children. the idea is to enhance savings culture, promote thrift and responsible spending, for children and family settings. thank all for a milestone occasion there is no better time than this present time to see financial inclusion taken to the next level. i want to welcome everyone and thank you all for coming