Good Morning Everyone. On behalf of our Team from the Bank of Papua New Guinea, I want to begin by extending our heartfelt thanks to Governor Letlet and the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu for welcoming us so warmly, and I want to acknowledge our dear friends and colleagues from the Central Bank of Solomon Islands. It is an honour for the BPNG Team to stand with you this morning in the true spirit of Wansolwara.
We are so very grateful to the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu for graciously agreeing to host this year’s Exchange. Papua New Guinea was originally scheduled to host the program, but Vanuatu kindly stepped forward and agreed to take the lead. On behalf of all of us, a very big tenkiu tumas to the Team from Vanuatu for your warm welcome and your generous hospitality.
This is Vanuatu’s event, and thank you for bringing it back to life after such a long pause. As host, Vanuatu is taking the lead role, and the Solomon Islands and PNG are happy playing our supporting roles this time around!!
That said…I have to let you know that Team BPNG has been preparing with great anticipation for this week’s events. Olsem tok save tasol - we have been quietly getting ready for some time now - especially for the sports - and this is where some hidden talents will come out this week.
To Governor Letlet and Governor Forau, to all our Team Leaders, Mentors and participants from Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and PNG - thank you for being here and supporting this unique WanSolwara Exchange Program.
I am proud to stand with my colleagues from BPNG - and equally proud to stand with our brothers and sisters from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. We, as Melanesians, and as members of the wider Pacific family, stand side by side - united by our culture, our history and our shared hopes for the future.
This Exchange is more than the Program of Events ahead of us, it is about bringing our regional family together, building trust and learning from one another. We will see that throughout the week - in the experiences we gain, from the knowledge we share and in the friendships that blossom and grow.
This program - the Wansolwara Exchange - is unique. It is the only conference I know of, where we have the opportunity to share in both competition - and in the exchange of knowledge.
Some of my most valuable moments as Governor have come from learning from my Pacific counterparts, and the Wansol Exchange presents the same opportunity for each of us - to connect - to learn - and to grow.
So I encourage all of you: seek out new connections this week. Listen, share and be open - because more than sports, or culture, this experience is about a people-to-people connection. It is about showing the world that, we as Pacific Islanders, are confident, respectful, and proud of our identity.
Let’s make the most of the opportunity we have this week - to connect, to collaborate and to build the future of our Pacific Central Banking Community.
Once again - to Governor Letlet - tenkiu tru lo wokim dispela event i kamap possible and for bringing it to life again.
Let us go forward in the true Wansol spirit - One People. One Solwara. One Pacific.
May God bless our Teams, and may we all participate in the true spirit of friendship and of cooperation.
Tenku tru, tanikiu badaherea and tenkiu tumas.
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