free - of - charge for the first two years and this arrangement will be reviewed in due time, as we monitor the effectiveness of the registry. ( iii ) economic reform disguised as a legal reform the online registry we are launching today is only a part of the broader economic reform plan underlying the commencement of the ppsa. collectively, the legal framework and the online registry is intended to stimulate the development of new credit products and services and build confidence among lenders in accepting valuable new forms of collateral. conclusion 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches i wish to end with an important call - out to those who may have been sceptical about this whole initiative and its expected benefits. we question the basis of such unconvinced sentiments when similar initiatives with regards to the ppsa and the secured transaction reform agenda have been adopted by many countries in the region, in many parts of africa, asia and middle east and also by advanced economies, and have proven to significantly contribute to inclusive growth. as a student of economics, i was reminded of what adam smith, the father of economics had said, " money makes money. when you have got a little, it is often easy to get more. the great difficulty is to get that little ". there is enough literature and evidence available from many of these country experiences that confirm that secured transaction reform assists with getting that little money. furthermore, we strongly believe that this project will have a positive impact on fiji ’ s ease of doing business ranking, and should be supported by all those who are motivated to continue to make fiji, a preferred place of doing business. to the adb and the psdi team and the australian and new zealand high commissions, the government of fiji and the reserve bank of fiji are very appreciative of your vital role as technical advisors, and funders of this reform. vinaka to you. i also acknowledge the work of our secured transactions reform taskforce that was instrumental in guiding the drafting of the act, and our financial service providers and other stakeholders for their collaboration. let me also take this opportunity to thank christina and her team for their hard work and effort in working with all our stakeholders. we can now only look forward to realising the benefits of this very important initiative in the years to come as this will provide our people with an opportunity economic empowerment. thank you very much and vinaka. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

ariff ali : launch of the personal property securities registry as part of economic reform plan opening remarks by mr ariff ali, governor of the reserve bank of fiji, at the launch of the personal property securities registry, suva, 31 may 2019. * * * mr masayuki tachiiri, regional director, pacific subregional office, asian development bank ; your excellency mr john feakes, australian high commissioner to fiji ; mr jonathan rowe, counsellor ( development ), new zealand high commission ; representatives of government, and licensed financial institutions ; invited guests ; members of the media ; ladies and gentlemen ; introductory comments bula vinaka and a very good morning! it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this very special occasion, as we acknowledge an important milestone in our financial inclusion and development journey. i specifically thank our donors and stakeholders for availing their time to be with us today. i would first and foremost, seek to offer our sincere gratitude to some key stakeholders, who through their foresight and tireless efforts have enabled us to be launch this personal property securities registry today. i therefore acknowledge the vision of our former governor, mr barry whiteside for initiating and driving the establishment of a framework to look at reforming our secured transaction framework. his vision was supported by the willingness and assistance of the offices of the adb pacific private sector development initiative ( psdi ), the solicitor general ’ s office, and our hard working team here at the rbf. i therefore sincerely thank all subject matter experts and technical officers who contributed to this initiative. in particular, i would like to convey my special thanks to peter dirou, terry reid, anthony frazer, and simon thompson from the adb psdi team, john kimbler from paradigm applications ( software vendor ), dsg ms tracy wong and glenys andrews ( sgo ). however, the project could not have effectively reached this stage without the support of our licensed commercial banks and credit institutions, so the “ buy - in ” we obtained from these industries to embrace the initiative, and be willing partners in a larger agenda of unlocking the potential of the sme sector in fiji, is very much appreciated. our journey we embarked on this reform journey a little over five years ago to this day, in a bid to enhance access to finance and stimulate economic activity, but recognised earlier on that the legal framework and its related procedures were inhibitive for lenders to confidently provide finance based on moveable property pledged as