Venue: ALBERT PARK
Hon. Attorney General and Minister for Economy, Public Enterprises, Civil Service and Communications;
Honorable Minister of State for External Affairs, Government of India;
Hon. Ministers and Members of Parliament;
Permanent Secretary for Industry, Trade & Tourism;
Senior Government Officials;
Invited Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen
Bula vinaka and a very good afternoon to you all.
It is my pleasure to welcome each and every one of you today, to the continuation of the disbursement of the Fijian Government’s Micro and Small Business Grant.
I would like to extend a very special welcome to the Hon. Minister of State for External Affairs from the Government of India, General (Retired) Vijay Kumar Singh.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For those of you who are not fully aware of the support given by the Government of India, the Government of India has generously donated funds towards the grant facility.
In our past disbursements, we have continuously emphasized the Fijian Government’s wish, that you all reach levels where you will be eligible to obtain further small business loans from financial institutions such as the Fiji Development Bank – your partner in progress.
To date, 8, 373 recipients have benefitted from this vital initiative of the Fijian Government with approximately FJ$8 million utilized thus far. Today’s disbursement, will assist a further 923 recipients from the greater Suva area.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Micro and Small Business Grant programme impacts the livelihoods of many of you and your families and generates many types of economic returns to you and business communities and thereby benefitting the economy and the nation. And that ladies and gentlemen, is the aim of the Fijian Government – to raise the living standards of our ordinary Fijians.
These investment by Government shows our confidence in you, the recipients, that you will utilize these grants effectively in expanding your businesses, raise the standard of living in your communities and help Government in achieving sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
Ladies and Gentlemen
This is the 5th grant disbursement for the year and following this afternoon’s event, we would have added another 923 recipients from Suva to the numbers we have assisted to date. So I urge you, as beneficiaries of this support, to plan well your business ventures, and I wish you well in your endeavors.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is also with great pleasure to introduce our Chief Guest the Honorable Minister of State for External Affairs for the Republic of India, General (Ret’d) Vijay Kumar Singh.
General (Ret’d) Singh, was born on 10 May 1951 and is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy having served as the 26th Chief of Army of the Indian Army. He is also a graduate of the US Army Rangers Course at Fort Benning. USA and US Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
General (Ret’d) Singh was awarded the Yudh Seva Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service while commanding a counter-insurgency force in 2005 and Param Vishisht Seva Medal in recognition of his exceptional and distinguished services in the Eastern Theatre in 2009.
He became Chief of Army Staff on 31 March 2010 and retired from the position on 31 May 2012.
On 11 March 2011, Singh was inducted into the United States Army War College (Class of 2001 graduate) International Fellows Hall of Fame. He is the 33rd International Fellow and the first Indian Armed Forces officer to be inducted.
General (Ret’d) Singh joined the Bhartiya Janata Party on 1 March 2014 and successfully contested the Lok Sabha election from Ghaziabad constituency that has 2.4 million plus electorate.
Currently, he is Minister of State for External Affairs. As Minister of State for External Affairs, General Singh has represented India at several bilateral and multilateral events as well as Special Assignments in Asia, Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean region and Europe.
“Courage and Conviction”, his highly-acclaimed autobiography, has been widely read in India.
General Singh is married to Mrs. Bharti Singh and they have two daughters.
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to now invite the Honorable General (Ret’d) Singh to deliver his address.
Thank You and Vinaka Vakalevu.