empowerment & participation of women in social and economic activities. so you see, we are interested for the simple reason that microfinance can play a key role in the economic development and wellbeing of our people and country. we believe that through microfinance, many of the poor and unbaked in our communities will have the opportunity to access financial services to improve their living standards. ladies and gentlemen, microfinance is not only about loans. it also includes savings, payments, micro insurance services and capacity building of clients. i hope that at the end of our expo, the people of labasa would be better informed about these financial services. not only that, but we would like to see new micro business initiatives spring up, resulting in improved living standards. the theme for this third microfinance expo is “ inspiring growth through microfinance ”. when we look at statistics, the informal sector, which includes small and microentrepreneurs, contributes around 17percent of our gdp. 1 in some asian countries, this particular sector form around 60 – 80 percent of gdp. you can see then that there is a lot that can be done to develop the microfinance and small business sector to become a major contributor to the development and growth of our country. the north can contribute to this objective. labasa, as well as the entire northern division has become a national priority in government ’ s current development focus. there is availability of vast untapped resources in the northern division. with proper policies and support in place, these resources can be harnessed to produce business opportunities and source of living for the people in this region. the government is keen on realizing this. we intend to visit some projects under the northern development initiatives today. we have heard some encouraging developments and will see them whilst we are here. rbf policies to support and promote microfinance in the last 17 months, you may have noticed that the reserve bank has implemented a number of new initiatives to promote microfinance and greater financial inclusion in fiji. in april 2009 a new department was established in the bank, the financial systems development and compliance group. this group has been tasked with spearheading developments in the areas of microfinance, financial literacy, remittances, complaints management, capital markets and payments systems. to develop microfinance in fiji, the reserve bank issued a policy in december last year to all commercial banks to establish microfinance units at all their branches by january

to highlight some of these major accomplishments : • the enhancement to its life product offering through the launch of the bula prime product in 2011. • the re - branding of dominion house to bsp life centre, which now accommodates all of bsp life ’ s operations. • the opening of a new customer services centre on the ground floor of bsp life centre. i am told that walk - in customers are averaging 2, 000 per week, double what they were before the office opened. • the opening of a lautoka office, to complement the nadi branch and to provide greater service to customers in the west. • the rollout of new medical products earlier this year, including the introduction of an india evacuation product at very affordable premiums. i understand that bsp life has partnered with the world renowned apollo chain in india which provides a broad range of specialist medical services. access to india is now seamless via hong kong or seoul and the quality of services at apollo, i am told, is world class. in 2012 apollo treated over 60, 000 international patients at their delhi facility alone. i think these numbers provide some indication of the acknowledgement of the quality of the treatment available. bis central bankers ’ speeches • in so far as investments go, the bsp life portfolio has grown to $ 323 million. most of this money is invested in fiji, helping to provide employment for our people and helping to grow our economy. • i also note the strong financial standing of the business as publicly declared in the company ’ s recent key disclosure statement for 2012. this augurs well for future growth and ongoing returns to bsp life policy holders. i am pleased to note a significant investment in marketing by the bsp group to create awareness of the need to invest and protect our financial future. with the take - up of life insurance at less than 15 percent of our population, bsp life has taken a lead role in creating awareness of the critical need for us to have insurance and protect our loved ones. bsp life and bsp bank have also been key partners, along with other stakeholders, in the reserve bank of fiji ’ s ongoing efforts to promote financial inclusion and financial literacy in fiji. launch of bula elite and concluding remarks ladies and gentlemen, it is clear that bsp life has strongly established itself in life and health insurance in the fiji market over such a short period of time. tonight is another special milestone in the company ’ s growth as a major player in fiji ’