ANZ PRESENTATION BY CEO PACIFIC & CEO FIJI, VISHNU MOHAN Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) 2nd Summit Theme: “Green Growth in the Pacific: Building Resilient Sustainable Futures and Genuine Partnerships” PLENARY 3: INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION TO SUPPORT GREEN GROWTH [Your Excellency, President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] Your Excellency, the President of Kiribati, Anote Tong; Distinguished leaders of the Pacific Islands Development Forum and development partner states; Excellencies; distinguished delegates; Friends from the Pacific and beyond. •
Good afternoon. It’s a great pleasure be here.
• On behalf of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), I wish to thank the organisers of this gathering for the opportunity to address you today. • In particular, thank you to the Secretariat of the Pacific Islands Development Forum and Fiji Ministry of Foreign Affairs for approaching me to deliver our bank’s perspective on opportunities for international cooperation to support green growth. •
ANZ is very proud to be the exclusive banking sponsor for the PIDF summit. We believe that this summit presents a great chance to role model collaboration between the public and private sectors to help build resilient, sustainable and economically strong Pacific nations.
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As the largest bank in the region with a presence in 12 Pacific countries, we also
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believe that we can make an important contribution by working with our customers and partners to drive social and environmental sustainability improvements.
• Today, in the short time I have, I wanted to focus on: o Our approach to ‘green growth’ as a Group; o How we’ve translated this approach to our operations on the ground here in the Pacific; and o ANZ’s commitment to continuously working with our customers
and stakeholders in the Pacific to support the sustainability agenda in everything that we do. ANZ in the Pacific •
ANZ has a long history in the Pacific. We’ve operated in the region for over 130 years, having started operations in Fiji in 1880.
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Today, ANZ has the largest geographical footprint of any bank in the region, with a presence in 12 countries across the Pacific.
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Fiji is now the location of our Pacific Headquarters which transitioned last year from our global headquarters in Melbourne to Suva, shifting this important regional decision-making resource closer to our customers on the ground.
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Fiji is also the location of the ANZ Suva Hub, established as ANZ Pacific Operations in which is part of our network of Group Hubs located strategically across key locations globally, responsible for leading delivery solutions for our customers. In the Pacific, ANZ has invested heavily in our Suva Hub - formally established as ANZ Pacific Operations based in Kalabu, Suva - because we recognise that Fiji has a highly talented, dynamic, well-educated and capable workforce.
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As you can see, we clearly have a strong interest in the continued growth and success of the region.
ANZ – our global responsibilities •
Honourable leaders, I would like to now briefly speak to you about our global policies and commitments that support green growth across our 33 global markets, including the Pacific.
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At ANZ we have made a commitment to our stakeholders – customers, shareholders, staff and the community – to operate in a way that advances sustainability and manages our social and environmental impact. 2
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In order to give life to these commitments, we acknowledge that we have an impact on the environment, either: o Directly through the conduct of our business operations; o Indirectly through the products and services we provide to our customers; and, o Indirectly through the products and services we procure.
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As a Group we recognise that our own environmental reputation and that of our customers can have a bearing on ANZ’s long-term financial success. Being a trusted member of the community depends in part on our ability to manage our own environmental issues, continuously improving performance and working with our customers and suppliers to do the same.
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As such, ANZ’s approach to the environment is applied and encouraged in all our businesses, with strict guidelines applied to our: o Business operations; o Purchase and use of goods and services; o Design and distribution of our products and services; and, o Engagement with our customers regarding their operations.
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We are also signatories to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact since 2010, and continue to report and integrate the Global Compact and its principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption into our business, processes and culture.
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ANZ is also guided by our Sensitive Sector Policies in assessing finance applications from the Energy, Extractives, Forests and Forestry, Hydropower, Water and Military Equipment sectors. These stringent policies ensure that social and environmental considerations are incorporated into our financing and lending decisions.
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Evidently, these sorts of global policies require targeted national action to really make a difference to our stakeholders on the ground.
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Along with continuous and diligent assessment of all our customer and supplier relationships in the context of sustainable development, which integrate social and environmental considerations into our business decisions, products and services, I would like to highlight a few examples of related ‘green’ initiatives that stand out for us in the Pacific: o In Fiji we’ve just completed – only last week, in fact – a scoping study for a pilot program to significantly reduce paper volumes in our retail frontline and back office this year. This significant re-engineering exercise aims to further remove cumbersome processes to enable staff make it easier for customers to do business with us, and eliminate excessive use of paper in our business.
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o We hope to eventually roll this initiative out across the Pacific, drawing from expertise in our New Zealand business to replicate a similar exercise successfully carried across our New Zealand business. o In Kiribati (Christmas Island) and Cook Islands we operate solar-powered branches, and a fleet of solar-powered ATMs in Solomon Islands to support customers in rural areas. o Just this month we renewed our partnership with the World Bank and Fiji’s Department of Energy to support the Sustainable Energy Financing Project. ANZ Fiji will now be the fund manager and Participating Financial Institution for a facility of USD5 million to help customers purchase renewable energy equipment supporting three renewable energy technologies – Solar PV, PicoHydro and coconut oil biodiesel. To date we’ve funded about FJD14 million under this initiative which is setup under a “risk sharing fund” agreement, and aligns perfectly with our ANZ Group commitment to assist customers to transition to a low carbon future. o ANZ has been a key partner in syndicating with the China Development Bank for funding of the multi-million dollar Fiji Electricity Authority Nadarivatu hydro dam scheme, for which we are now the sole financier.
Conclusion • Honourable Leaders, distinguished delegates; allow me to conclude by delivering our commitment to you today on behalf of ANZ. • It is said that: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” • We want to help provide such a foundation for the nations of the Pacific to grow, through responsible and sustainable business practices for the sake of our customers, our people, communities, suppliers and the environment. • Ultimately, this commitment is a part of our ‘licence to operate’ in all our 33 global markets, and as an international bank with access to global expertise and
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international best practice, we are committed to making a difference on the ground. • Last year the Dow Jones Sustainability Index named ANZ the most sustainable bank, globally, for the sixth time in seven years across arrange areas such as corporate governance, risk management, customer relations, community investment, climate change mitigation and environmental performance. • While we are honoured by this recognition, we will continue to raise the bar in this area, including in the Pacific. • This is the only way to do business. •
Thank you and I look forward to taking any questions you might have.
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