development calls for the establishment strong domestic institutions. we must eliminate corruption from our society. we must build up our human resources and improve administrative capacity and governance. corruption does not necessarily mean more regulations. it means a more transparent way of doing business under an agreed accountability structure. we must cultivate a culture of zero tolerance for corruption amongst our societies. what can the adb do better towards achieving our common goals? given the challenges faced by our countries, we must continue to highlight our special needs in the international arena. i urge the adb to continue to strengthen its capacity to respond to the region ’ s needs in a flexible and timely manner. an important focus for the adb in relation to vulnerabilities of small island states is disaster management. in this regard, adb assistance towards putting in place the needed infrastructure to help preparedness for disasters in countries would be helpful. an associated need is financial support to help rebuild the economies of disaster - stricken countries. i am of the view that in general, multilateral organisations, can do more to help finance our economic reconstruction following a disaster. in such a situation, the provision of loans may simply burden us further when our position is already weak. in this regard, the grants facility now available under adf ix is an encouraging development. i understand the reasons why countries in the region are treated collectively by multilateral institutions like adb. but i see a few dangers of over extending this collective treatment. while we may be small and our vulnerabilities are similar, our needs may be very divergent and our priorities different. in fact in some cases our diversity may be the same as comparing new zealand with say fiji. in this light, i urge the adb to focus on formulating country - specific development strategies that is tailor made to the needs of each pdmc. as the leading lender in this area, a catalytic role by the adb in raising regional integration and improving regional cooperation is also desirable. i was pleased to note the positive suggestions and comments expressed by the new adb president, mr haruhiko kuroda, in his address to the adb institution in february this year, on how the bank can move forward to meet the challenges of our developing countries. i thought his statement augur well for us in the pacific during his leadership. it may be relevant to highlight a few issues that the new president alluded to in his address. • he referred to a client - oriented strategy to help the ad

into all aspects of the banking market in fiji. i was particularly pleased to see how readily bsp embraced the fijiclear payment system even though they were the newest boy on the block. they are also not holding back on introducing new banking technology. bsp is in the process of installing two atms in suva and another two have been installed here at this branch. it is also extremely encouraging to see a regional bank like bsp making waves in fiji. we all know that bsp is a strong regional bank with a history going back as far as 1957. bsp is listed on the port moresby stock exchange and is the largest bank in papua new guinea. bsp is expanding its regional footprint with one branch in niue, one in the solomon islands and now two in fiji. from the reserve bank ’ s viewpoint, well - established and well - capitalised banks like bsp provide greater choice, competition and innovation in the fiji market. that is a good thing for business and the public, and is therefore good for fiji. every business seems to be heading down the queens highway to nadi. it was a matter of time before bsp took to the highway. it makes good business sense. nadi town is an excellent location. the town will continue to grow feeding off its tourism base. banking industry let me say a few more words about the banking sector in fiji. we have 5 commercial banks right now. over the years, the number has hovered around this level – it has gone up and come down. some banks have come and left for one reason or another. fortunately, their departures have been handled smoothly. unfortunately, we had to restructure one bank but again that complex operation was well managed. all in all, i believe that our banking system has matured in the last ten years. with that maturity has come greater stability and soundness. and that augurs well for the economy. and talking about the economy, it appears from some of the comments in the media that many of us do not fully grasp the contribution that the financial system makes to the economy. in 2006, the banking sector in fiji employed over 1, 500 people ( and rising ) and contributed close to $ 40 million in taxes. clearly, this is a serious and important business sector for fiji. the banking sector plays a key role in the economic development of this country. i am sure if you ask bsp, they would tell you that banking business here is hard, not