benny b m popoitai : the national informal economy policy speech by mr benny b m popoitai, acting governor of the bank of papua new guinea, at the launch of the national informal economy policy, port moresby, 24 february 2011. * * * acknowledgement honourable dame carol kidu, minister for community development mr. joseph klapat, secretary, department of community development, and your staff mr. max kep, chairman, informal economy committee, and your members mr. paul barker, director of institute of national affairs, and your staff the consultative, implementation and monitoring council distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen introduction the bank of png as the central bank of the country is pleased to have been invited to participate in this occasion - the launching of the national informal economic policy. the governor, mr. loi bakani, has to attend to an obligatory engagement with one of our international partners so he passes his sincere apology. the acting governor, mr. benny popoitai, has fallen ill and is not able to make it for the launching, and he also passes his sincere apology. i stand in to present this speech on his behalf. what the occasion is for and the role of the central bank the informal economy has the vast majority of the population, who does not have access to many normal services and therefore are hindered from taking part in economic activities. greater participation by the mass of the country's population in the development process is long recognized through the national constitution with : the preamble to the constitution calling for " development to take place primarily through the use of png forms of social and political organization " and for economic development to give special emphasis to " small - scale artisan, service and business activity " ; and also through one of the eight point plan aims adopted upon the attainment of independence calling for " greater and equal participation of the people " and for " equal distribution of wealth ". it is further recognized in the government's 2050 vision launched in 2009, specifically in the wealth creation pillar that states " a concerted effort is required to empower citizens to create wealth from our vast renewable natural resources and through the development of entrepreneurial skills to ensure that the nation's wealth is fairly distributed to the majority of the people. " this occasion - the launching of the informal economy policy formalizes a necessary and a pre - requisite step - of having a policy statement that supports the informal sector development and control act ( 2004 ) and

economy, as our " fintech 2025 " strategy eloquently puts it. project mbridge, our flagship wholesale cbdc project, is a joint collaboration among the bis innovation hub, the digital currency institute of the people's bank of china, the 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches bank of thailand and the central bank of the uae. we have been experimenting on a blockchain platform to settle multi - currency cross - border payments in cbdc, with the goal of addressing the well - known shortcomings of the correspondent banking system. the hkma has also been studying the prospect of issuing a retail cbdc in hong kong under project e - hkd. earlier this year, we kick - started the e - hkd pilot programme, which is a close collaboration with industry participants to test the potential use cases of an e - hkd. project sela and collaboration as the way forward in cbdc research now, i did not mention the pilot programme just as a spoiler to the later session of the launch event. i mentioned it to underline one key aspect of our cbdc research efforts : collaboration. the complicated nature of cbdcs makes them a challenging and complex field to navigate. this complexity underscores the importance of cooperation, not only with industry participants, but also with other fellow central banks. by sharing knowledge, resources, and expertise, we can ensure that the development and implementation of cbdcs are done in a way that mitigates any potential risks and benefits all, across jurisdictions. project sela is a testament to the enduring power of collaboration. by pooling the policy, legal and technical knowledge of the hkma, the bank of israel, the bis innovation hub and of our industry partners, sela successfully experimented with a novel cbdc architecture that can effectively foster competition and innovation in the provision of cbdc services. such a remarkable outcome, in such a short time, would have not been possible if each party worked alone. while the hkma has not yet made a decision on whether and when to introduce an ehkd, the findings from project sela will inform our on - going exploration. and i am confident that these insights will also contribute to the ongoing global discourse surrounding cbdcs. let me thank you all once again for being here, and thank you israel for your warm hospitality. 2 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches