provided and lower costs. ladies and gentlemen we can and need to start somewhere and make the change necessary to empower our communities and providing a chance to the otherwise “ commercially undeserved ”. this will also require a change of mindset on our part. like all changes, there is always resistance. but in small island economies like ours, co - operation and co - ordination is vital amongst all the players in society to allow us to realize our potential and improve the living standards of our people. government agencies, the private sector, donors and civil society organizations all have a responsibility in this regard. as stakeholders in the microfinance or financial inclusion segment of our society, this workshop provides you with the ideal opportunity to make a difference. without the right financial structure and accessibility to appropriate financial services our rural sector will not grow. as i mentioned previously, banks are the most ideal institutions that can assist by providing financial services to micro & small business enterprises given their vast resources and experience. it is our duty in the financial sector to assist the other sectors of our economy by making accessible the tools and the means to work in our rural areas. i am confident that together we can deliver. furthermore, the reserve bank has been approached by a number of telecommunication operators to offer basic banking service through mobile phones at very affordable prices. these types of services will further enhance the promotion of financial inclusion in fiji, especially in terms of mobilising the savings and easy access to remittances. in addition, this will provide increased choice of financial services available to people in geographically isolated and remote areas of fiji. concluding remarks let me wrap up by informing you ladies and gentlemen, that fiji, like any other developing country, is currently reviewing and reforming its financial sector to make it a locomotive for growth and development. the reviews are aimed at strengthening policies to improve the regulatory environment and set the right platform for our economy to grow. the reserve bank of fiji has in the last few months taken on a more active role in terms of defining a more strategic approach for various sectors of the economy. we believe that much more can be done to improve accessibility of financial services to the unbanked in our communities. studies have shown that there are many opportunities for commercial banks in banking the commercially underserved. there are many success stories that have been documented in fiji evident from the fdb ’ s small business award which highlight that low income markets can be served on a sustainable level. this role is not limited to banks

barry whiteside : bank south pacific group expansion in fiji opening address by mr barry whiteside, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, on the occasion of the rebranding of dominion house to bsp life centre, the opening of the bsp life ’ s customer service centre, and the opening of the bsp ’ s thomson street branch, suva, 4 october 2012. * * * his excellency, the president, rau epeli nailatikau the first lady, adi koila nailatikau mr kevin mccarthy, bsp fiji country manager mr malakai naiyaga, managing director, bsp life limited board members of bsp life limited and bank south pacific management and staff distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen introductory comments bula vinaka and a very good evening to you all. i wish to thank kevin and malakai for their kind invitation to yet another significant event in the relatively short history of bsp ’ s operations in fiji. it is indeed a privilege to be here to support your development initiatives and i welcome your ongoing rebranding & refurbishment programme in fiji. it definitely is another sign of the bsp group wishing to further stamp its mark as a major player in the market and is a real vote of confidence for fiji ’ s economy and our domestic financial system. the bsp fiji group we are actually here today to celebrate three different milestones : ( i ) the re - branding of this dominion house complex to bsp life centre ; ( ii ) the opening of bsp life ’ s customer service centre ; and ( iii ) the renaming of the refurbished bank operations to bsp thomson street branch. the bsp fiji arm of the group has an impressive pedigree. it is a union of two prominent fijian financial institutions, colonial fiji life limited and colonial national bank, which were acquired by bsp in december 2009. colonial fiji life limited, which used to be known as colonial mutual life assurance society ( or more simply as just cmla to us older folk ), was founded in melbourne in 1873, and almost simultaneously opened offices in several other centers in australia. a branch office was opened in fiji in 1876 and i understand that this was the first overseas branch of colonial mutual, before the company opened up in new zealand and south africa in 1883, and expanded into great britain and ireland in 1886. the company officially demutualised in 1996 after acquiring blue shield ( pacific ) limited in 1991. the colonial business was domesticated in