CBSI Conducts NFIS3 and NDES consultation on Guadalcanal Province

Central Bank of Solomon Islands Deputy Governor Raynold Moveni, paid a courtesy visit to Guadalcanal Premier, Hon. Francis Mbelande Sade, at the Guadalcanal Provincial headquarters on Wednesday 18th November, as part of the NFIS3 and NDES consultation program for Guadalcanal province.

Deputy Governor Moveni made the visit to inform Premier Sade and his executives of the nationwide consultation on the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 3 (NFIS3) and the National Digital Economy Strategy (NDES) that CBSI and its stakeholders and partners are currently conducting.

The courtesy visit was prior to commencing the consultation workshop for Guadalcanal province stakeholders at their provincial headquarters in Honiara this week.

Moveni expressed to the Guadalcanal Premier and his provincial executive members that it is important to include Guadalcanal province in the nation-wide consultation program before ending the year.
“So far CBSI has made several provincial visits during the second half of 2020 to conduct the NFIS3 and the NDES consultations, covering provinces such as Choiseul, Western, Makira and Malaita respectively. This week CBSI turned its focus on Guadalcanal.”

He added that given the strategic location of the province and being the centre of economic activities for the country, it was important to capture Guadalcanal perspectives in the NFIS and NDES.
“We made sure to save the last call to Guadalcanal province before we go into drafting and finalizing these two important national strategies,” Moveni said.

“Guadalcanal as a province is one of the major contributors to the economy, therefore in terms of financial inclusion, we needed to consult your province to get insights into how these strategies can be best applied to suit needs and interest of the people.”

In his response, Premier Sade acknowledged the efforts so far and added that financial inclusion is very important to allow the majority of the people to be part of the financial system.
He said that with the strategy, more people in Guadalcanal can take part in the overall economic activities of the country.
“Part of our plans now is for the province to work in economic centres around Guadalcanal, from Marau to Doma and all the way across the island.”
“This is to make sure people engage more in economic activities, and be able to sustain or support themselves,” Premier Sade explained.

“Some of these locations are situated in disaster prone areas, so having some form of knowledge on financial inclusion, and then access to financial service can help our people to deal with disaster shocks when actively engaged in our overall economy,” he added.

CBSI has been promoting financial inclusion since 2011 by ensuring Solomon Islanders have access to convenient and responsible financial services.
CBSI and its external stakeholders and partners, which also include various Ministries under the Solomon Islands Government are together aiming to see the penetration of financial services go right into the rural areas.

The NFIS3 and the development of the first NDES not only looks at inclusiveness of people into the financial system but also work on leveraging technology to support and improve all the sectors of the economy through digitization.
Participants who attended the consultation workshop, included executive members of the provincial government and stakeholders in the province.

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For more information, please contact:
Central Bank of Solomon Islands | P.O. BOX 634 | Honiara | Ph: (677) 21791 | Email: info@cbsi.com.sb | Website: www.cbsi.com.sb