Central banks of the Pacific are becoming active in building more inclusive financial systems.

Points of interest:

- Clark opposed to mining Doc land: "There are other ways to make money [and] some things are more important than money"

- "Who wants the Martha Mine in the middle of you know Tongariro National Park? Not me"

The Governor-General, Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, will host an investiture ceremony on Wednesday 17 February 2010 at Government House Auckland for former New Zealand Prime Minister Rt Hon Helen Clark.

An honorary Doctor of Laws degree will be conferred on the former Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Helen Clark, at The University of Auckland next Wednesday 17 February.

The ceremony at the University's Fale Pasifika in Wynyard Street starts at 6pm and is expected to last nearly an hour.

The ongoing economic and financial crisis presents an opportunity to implement social protection programmes in the Pacific that address the needs of the vulnerable, said United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark in her keynote address at the Pacific Conference on the H

Commercial banks, microfinance institutions, telecos, civil society organizations, government officials and donor agencies in Samoa now have a better idea of what mobile banking can offer to the island nation.

Well I would like to congratulate Sir Peter Jackson for getting a knighthood and Helen Clark for her elevation to the Order of New Zealand but as for the rest - oh dear! Here I will outline why we should do away (once again) with the concept of knights and dames.

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By Kevin Norquay of NZPA

Wellington, Dec 31 NZPA - Just over a year after being voted out of office, former prime minister Helen Clark has been placed back on a pedestal, saying her elevation to elite New Zealander in the New Year Honours is a "privilege".

On Q+A this Sunday: Prime Minister, John Key will be interviewed by Guyon Espiner on the last episode of Q+A for the year. Paul Holmes interviews United Nations Development Programme Head, Helen Clark live from NY.

Ten New Zealand engineers will join relief efforts in the Indonesian city of Padang in western Sumatra, following last week's devastating earthquake," Foreign Minister Murray McCully said today.