Fiji, June 24 -- Marshall Islands President Dr Hilda Heine has challenged Pacific finance ministers to accelerate efforts to improve financial inclusion, saying advances in connectivity and digital technology have created new opportunities to overcome long-standing barriers facing Pacific economies.

Opening the Forum Economic Ministers' Meeting (FEMM) in Majuro Tuesday, Heine said the theme, Economic and Financial Inclusion in the Pacific, reflected both the challenges and opportunities confronting the region.

"This year, financial inclusion is more within reach than it has ever been, not because the challenge has grown smaller, but because our collective capacity to meet it has grown stronger," she said.

Heine said many Pacific econom...