barry whiteside : financial inclusion developments and challenges in fiji keynote address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the national financial inclusion strategy workshop, suva, 13 november 2015. * * * salutations : distinguished guests ; national financial inclusion taskforce and working group members ; colleagues and fellow stakeholders in financial inclusion ; ladies and gentlemen. bula vinaka and a very warm welcome to you all. introduction : it was six years ago, nearly to this very day, when we held our first ever workshop at the novotel lami to determine our future in financial inclusion in our country. this was the start of what has been an incredible journey of taking financial services and financial literacy to the underserved of fiji and providing them that necessary hand - up needed to lift themselves out of poverty and continuing hardship. this was and still is the ultimate goal of financial inclusion worldwide ; a goal that has been taken up by many countries targeting the almost 2 billion people across the globe that remain unbanked. but we have also come to realise that financial inclusion is a key driver for economic growth. the whole world recognises that it is difficult to pursue economic growth if a large sector of our society is financially excluded from active participation in the economy. hence we have seen massive worldwide support in this area over the last five or six years. the fact that many of the institutions driving financial inclusion initiatives are central banks and ministries of finance in their respective countries is truly a clear indication of its importance and recognition. we in fiji, i am really glad to say, are no different. with the completion of our initial 5 - year financial inclusion strategic plan in 2014 we are now at our first major crossroads, needing to set ourselves new goals and new pathways forward. so let me say how delighted i am to be here this morning to say a few words about our journey so far, and also elaborate a little and stir your minds into some possibilities on the way forward. i am confident that through our collaboration and sharing at this workshop today, we will be able to “ hammer ” out together a new strategy to take this journey to a new level, extending the boundaries and improving the livelihoods of our most vulnerable communities. overview of our financial inclusion journey since the first workshop dear friends and colleagues, a number of us sitting here today were a part of our first workshop back in november, 2009. at that workshop, we had agreed to a home - grown structure, a financial inclusion model

financial competency of our fijian households. the findings from this survey were used to develop our initial national financial literacy strategy. the data working group has also managed to complete a detailed mapping survey of all financial access points and mobile coverage across fiji. this vital information can now be shared and used to target areas around the country which are deficient of any coverage and service. furthermore, in 2014, we secured funding support from the alliance for financial inclusion and the pacific financial inclusion programme to carry out a demand - side survey of financial services in fiji. the survey report was released earlier this year. all this data means we are now better placed to make evidence - based decisions on financial inclusion matters and focus our strategies going forward. the data provides the foundation for our discussions today. my friends and colleagues, it is clear that much has been achieved during our initial strategic plan period from 2010 to 2014. it has been a truly humbling experience, as chairman of the national financial inclusion taskforce and governor, to see complete and unselfish support across the board for the work we have been doing. our success can only be attributed to the hard work and contributions you have all made in getting us this far. i have certainly been proud to take our model to the world stage and to witness the recognition it has received. however, whilst a lot has been achieved, more still needs to be done. the challenge now is to build on what has already been achieved as a partnership of committed stakeholders and look at how we can extend this to greater heights. during our deliberations today a new vision will be proposed, one that will hopefully provide us with that challenge. our alliances since our first strategy ladies and gentlemen, before i conclude, let me acknowledge some of our important strategic alliances since we started this journey. financial inclusion in recent years has attracted increasing interest not only from the development and donor community, but also from developing, emerging and developed countries across the globe. we have joined international institutions and groups that play an active role in developing new research, setting standards and promoting best practices to improve financial inclusion. these include the alliance for financial inclusion ( afi ), cgap, and the g20. in 2011, fiji made commitments as part of afi ’ s maya declaration, the first global and measurable commitments by developing and emerging countries to unlock the economic and social potential of the more than 2. 5 billion unbanked people of the world. this number has since come down to 2 billion in 2014