Venue: FMF GYMNASIUM, Suva
Speaker of Parliament, Honorable Dr. Jiko Luveni;
Honorable Ministers;
Honorable Members of Parliament;
Members of the Diplomatic Corp;
Our Rural Women Artisans from around Fiji & Rotuma, Rabi and Kioa;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
A special welcome also to our visitors from the friendly islands of Tonga who are also participating at this year’s event.
Bula Vinaka and a Very Good Morning to all of you.
I am indeed happy and excited to be here today and to be amongst talented and hardworking women entrepreneurs. You are all here, proudly representing your Vanua, Province and communities and at the same time, breaking barriers and setting example for other women to be successful entrepreneurs.
It is because of your sheer determination to meet quality standards that has enabled you to meet the criteria that qualifies your product to carry the “Fijian Crafted” brand.
Ladies and Gentlemen
At the outset, I wish to thank the Ministry for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation for inviting me to award these artisans the accrediting recognition of the Fijian Crafted license.
I also congratulate the Ministry for successfully executing the National Women’s Expo for four years now and providing Fijian women a wonderful platform to show case their talents and provide them a market.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Fijian Made Buy Fijian Campaign began in 2011 with the aim to encourage consumers and organizations to buy Fijian Made goods and services wherever possible. This is most certainly not a difficult concept to sell, as most people share the common human inclination to support their own local community ahead of outsiders. And the success of the Buy Fijian Made Campaign has been greatly helped by the well-recognized stylized Fijians.
The Fijian Made branding provides for the branding of our own products using the Fijian Packed, Fijian Made, Fijian Product, Fijian Grown, Fijian Sewn, Fijian Crafted and Fijian Designed.
Ladies and Gentlemen
When you purchase a Fijian made product or service, you’re helping to create jobs and promote growth. Your purchases ensure that the money spent in Fiji stays in Fiji, reinvesting in the economy and the community. We must grow our economy and it is through the “Fijian Made” Campaign that manufacturers and retailers – large and small – are able to contribute to the economy.
The Fijian Made certification logo gives everyone the opportunity to easily recognize Fijian produced products or service. We must therefore, show our pride and loyalty to internal growth when we purchase and buy “Fijian Made”.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Since 2015, the National Women’s Expo awarded 43 Fijian Crafted licenses to 43 successful women entrepreneurs, while another 83 received theirs in 2017.
Today, another 50 women will be added to the list of successful women entrepreneurs, who are excelling in their field of work.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Women’s Expo and Fijian Made Campaign are initiatives to promote entrepreneurial culture through sustainable micro, small and medium enterprises. It is to empower youth and women for the sustainable growth of the economic. This is the vision set in the 5-year and 20-year National Development Plan.
The Ministry and the Ministry for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation have programs in place to encourage our fellow Fijians to engage in small and micro-enterprise businesses by providing capacity building and seed funding.
Having said that, we must therefore thank the Fijian Government for coming up with policies that promote inclusivity at every level and every aspect of development.
Ladies and Gentlemen
When it comes to branding, it is important to leave a long lasting impression on customers. A strong brand name and logo, helps to keep the image in the mind of potential customers.
Therefore, I urge you all to think big and create quality products and brands. You need to ensure that your designs and skills will be easily recognised by everyone at all times. For this, you will need a brand.
Ladies and Gentlemen
At this juncture, I wish to share with you the findings of the International Visit Survey conducted in 2014 by the Ministry which revealed that Culture and Craft are key elements that leaves a lasting impression on tourists who visit our shores.
With Tourism being one of the largest revenue earners for Fiji, and thousands of international travelers visiting Fiji each year, it is crafters and artisans like these women who have a substantial role in giving our visitors something they can take back with them.
Coming back to today’s event, the 50 women who will be receiving their licenses today, have opened themselves to a door of even more opportunities, and more avenues to promote our unique culture, which is through their crafts and handiwork.
The Ministry is only too glad to work in collaboration with the Ministry of Women, Children & Poverty Alleviation in ensuring that the craftsmanship of our women is highly promoted in the tourism sector.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Fijian Trade Policy Framework 2015-2025 has a long term vision in our engagement in regional, bilateral, multilateral trading opportunities where our women would also benefit greatly in terms of training and securing of markets especially in the craft industry.
The trade expos which will be held in countries like Korea and China, will be an opportunity for these women to showcase their products in international markets next year. I hope that we continue working together in strengthening partnerships with the artisans of the National Women’s Expo in achieving this goal.
Nevertheless, I wish to emphasize the importance of consistency in ensuring that the quality of your products is never compromised at any level and at any time. Once you do that well, the market will come to you and not the other way round.
With those few words, I once again congratulate all the Fijian Crafted license recipients and I wish you all the best in your future undertakings.
Thank you and Vinaka Vakalevu