’ s intentions to review the remaining controls on foreign exchange. then at the annual mining conference in sydney in december 2004, i went on to announce our decision to affect these in 2005. i have been tasked to dwell on this aspect of reforms undertaken by the central bank in this morning ’ s session. whilst there is this sense of the arrival of good times, it is only right that these good times be shared by as many stakeholders as possible in our community for a sense of accomplishment to be felt. i mentioned in my speech to this forum last year that significant strides have been made by the bank to ensure the soundness and stability of the financial system. coverage, in terms of accessibility to most of the population is lacking. this is an area very much outside of the bank ’ s direct influence and it is pleasing to note that the government, through its district treasury rollout program is attempting to address this issue at the moment through the provision of banking services via the postal service network and district treasury offices. the treasurer is the right person to give details on this program, but from what i have heard in the media there is much optimism where the services have been launched in the morobe, eastern highlands and central provinces. only recently the bank of papua new guinea issued a licence to the papua new guinea micro finance company limited owned by papua new guinea sustainable development program limited ( 60 % ) and the bank south pacific limited ( 40 % ), with a very strong indication that the international finance company ( ifc ) the investment arm of the world bank will take a twenty percent ( 20 % ) ownership interest in this venture. it will be the first time that the ifc is directly involved in papua new guinea as an investor or lender. we hope this is a break - through and will see them involved in other projects in privately and publicly owned enterprises ; a tacit vote of confidence. mr. robert igara the chief executive officer of pngsdp was invited to address the forum and provide some details on the operations of the company he is heading. the government asked him to act as the liaison person with the ifc and i am sure he will be glad to answer any questions you might have. the bank has also embarked on addressing the issue of banking and financial service coverage in papua new guinea, by introducing the micro - finance & employment project in 2000, co - sponsored by the asian development bank, ausaid and the government of png. a pilot micro - bank in wau

loi m bakani : save today for a better tomorrow address by mr loi m bakani, acting governor of the bank of papua new guinea, at the pacific regional conference on microsavings, port moresby, 28 - 29 june 2005. * * * welcome minister for inter - government relations – hon. sir peter barter, mp., minister for community development – dame carol kidu, mp., representatives from adb and ausaid, other development partner representatives, senior government officials, representatives from the banking and finance sectors, overseas guests and participants to the conference. i am very pleased to welcome you all to this conference, and for our overseas guests and participants, a special welcome to papua new guinea ( png ). i hope that during the few days of the conference, you will not only learn about microfinance but also learn much about png itself and the opportunities that it presents. it is also pleasing to see that the invited international guest speakers and the distinguished participants have accepted png ’ s invitation to this year ’ s conference, entitled – pacific regional conference on microsavings. the bank and the png - adb microfinance project team have planned this conference as part of the on - going initiatives to promote the microfinance industy in png and the pacific region. i am confident that the participants are looking forward to the two ( 2 ) days of the conference and the information and knowledge gained during this conference will add value in their efforts to develop their microfinance institutions in their respective countries. message of the conference the theme of the conference is - “ save today for a better tomorrow ”. this theme befits this conference as the year 2005 is the international year of microcredit as proclaimed by the united nations general assembly to recognise microcredit as a means to alleviate poverty and create employment. it is timely. as the conference unfolds in the next two days, many of us attending this conference would attempt to understand the theme from our own perspectives with respect to microfinance developments. perhaps we should try and understand the theme from the viewpoints of the ‘ grass roots ’ or the bulk in the informal and semi - formal sectors. there is a saying that the poor do save. the problem is that they need financial institutions, delivery mechanisms, systems and hands - on education and training to be able to understand why and how to save. in png however, traditional settings and arrangements of