Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Trade Co-operatives SMEs and Communications – Mr Shaheen Ali,

Chief Executive Officer of Ba Town Council, Ms Priya Singh,

Industry Captains and Ba Business Community,

Development Partners and Friends,

 

A big Bula Vinaka and warm greetings to you all!

It gives me the utmost joy and pleasure to be here today to officiate the Market Day in recognition of the contribution of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operatives in the economy.

 

A very joyous day indeed it is so exciting to witness your presence here today to showcase and market your products to the public. We found it fitting to have the celebrations in Ba this year as it is known as “Home of Businesses”, a place that many of our well respected business tycoons come from.

 

I am blessed to be in the presence of such talented and driven entrepreneurs and members of various co-operatives as we join in celebrating the success of your individual ventures.

 

Kofi Annan once said “Founded on the principles of private initiative, entrepreneurship and self-employment, underpinned by the values of democracy, equality and solidarity, the co-operative movement can help pave the way to a more just and inclusive economic order”.

 

Micro Small Medium Enterprises and Co-operatives are critical to our development and form crucial contributions to national economies, as they help to sustain livelihoods of women and young people.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today also marks the 101 years’ anniversary of the International Co-operatives day with the theme, “Co-operatives: Partners for Accelerated Sustainable Development ”.

 

Earlier in the week, on June 27th, we celebrated World MSME Day with the theme of “Supporting Women and Youth Entrepreneurship and Resilient Supply Chains”.

 

Consistent with this year’s themes, I encourage the business community to include MSMEs and Co-operatives in your supply chain and business models. Whilst I know that most raw materials are imported, using our MSMEs can help you mitigate the risks of the disruptions of the supply chain.

 

When I look around this room I see so many ideas and opportunities just waiting to be unlocked.

 

As your Government we have not imposed our thinking on you or what we think should be done, we have listened to you and developed forward looking interventions in the national budget that was announced.

 

The National Budget announced yesterday supports policies and outlines the direction for the upcoming financial year. It is evidently clear that there is pretty much – a big reliance on women and youth to come forward, take up these opportunities and help us, as a country become sustainable by building and expanding our economic base, supporting entrepreneurship for women and youth.

 

To ignite entrepreneurship at the grassroot levels, the Hon Minister for Finance announced that we have received a total package of $2.6 million for grant funding.  In fact –  is an increase of 85 percent from this financial year.

 

We aim to make smart and innovative investments into our MSMEs and Co-operatives.

 

With this increased allocation, the Coalition Government is demonstrating that we are serious about supporting MSMEs – and our responsibility to support and empower more MSMEs and Co-operatives in the upcoming financial year will continue.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

Additionally, the Ministry is responsible for growing the economy through facilitating investments and economic diversification. We have established a dedicated Investment Facilitation Committee to expedite investments that are pending approvals with regulatory or Government agencies.

 

We have abundant natural resources and human capital that remains untapped. The resource owners need your innovation, mentorship and investments to convert those resources to productive use.

 

Whilst we encourage you to collaborate, mentor and engage more with MSMEs and Co-operatives, we as Government must also do our part.

 

That is why your Coalition Government is focusing on improving the business environment such as simplifying tax systems and compliance, plug loss of Government revenue and reduce unnecessary expenditure.

 

The Coalition Government knows that it is not easy doing business in Fiji. We aim to improve processes and services delivered to the businesses and general public. We are continuing with the Ease of Doing Business project that will enable us to remove pain points and illogical processes to allow you to operate your business efficiently and smoothly.

 

Like our Hon. Prime Minister said earlier in the week – “we cannot operate like Business as Usual” and therefore tough calls need to be made and our people understand this.

 

We have been honest and transparent with our decision making. There is a prevailing sense of optimism in the air and we must ride on this optimism and cannot be complacent. Each one of you has a valuable contribution to make towards nation-building and forging a new Fiji. We are a true democracy now!

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

We know that we cannot do it alone. Hence we will continue to work with our partner agencies such as Business Assistance Fiji, UN agencies like UNDP, UN Women, UNCDF, UNFAO, ILO amongst many others. We look to forge new partnerships with the Chamber of Commerces and also the business community in respective towns.

 

 

Before I end, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the important role and contributions of all MSMEs and Co-operatives to Fiji.

I would also like to thank our partners who co-funded this event namely United Nations Development Programme, United Nation Women and Business Assistance Fiji and our in kind sponsor – Fiji Water.

 

Thank you all for being here, and may this celebration serve as a reminder of the incredible achievements and potential that lie within our co-operative and MSMEs.

 

Thank You and Vinaka Vakalevu.