Venue: GPH, Suva
Honorable Prime Minister;
Honorable Ministers;
Permanent Secretaries;
Honorable Members of Parliament;
Members of the Diplomatic Corp;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen
Bula Vinaka and a very good evening to all of you.
It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all this evening to the launch of this wonderful initiative – the Young Entrepreneurship Scheme or YES, an event that focuses on the importance of youth entrepreneurship and innovation.
To be innovative and entrepreneurial is to be willing to devote yourself fully and unreservedly to making your business ideas a reality. More than
ever our country need its young citizens to stand up and showcase their inherent creativity.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today’s launch signifies another fulfilled promise by your Government in ensuring economic prosperity for all Fijians and not leaving anyone behind, in this journey towards a brighter and better Fiji.
To date, a total of 150 interested individuals have submitted their application to the Ministry and it is encouraging to note that YES has attracted a lot of interest from youths nationwide.
The figure is truly promising and depicts the vigor of our young people who want to convert their innovative ideas into business ventures.
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am confident that the youth of our nation have the capacity to develop innovative solutions not only for business purposes but for the greater good of our society.
These include vision, enthusiasm, passion, flexibility, determination and resilience. More importantly a successful entrepreneur must be confident and should never, never retreat or ‘give up’ at the first sign of difficulty.
I therefore wish to urge the young people gathered here today and throughout the nation, to become true entrepreneurs and to bring forward new ideas and innovative solutions.
The world is constantly changing with new opportunities emerging all the time and the true entrepreneur will make full use of them. You can be assured that the Fijian Government is there for you and will provide the support and guidance that you need.
Ladies and Gentlemen
To all the youths, we have come on leaps and bounds in the last 10 years, we have been recognised around the world for our sports achievement, our warm hospitality and our friendliness. Now, we have to be recognised as innovators, dreamers and doers.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The presence of the Honorable Prime Minister to officially launch this initiative is a testament that your Fijian Government is truly committed to stimulating employment generation by encouraging our young people to become job creators rather than job seekers.
I encourage you all to dream big, turn those innovative and unique ideas into reality. Develop them into a sustainable business and contribute to achieving the vision of transitioning Fiji towards a knowledge based and modern society.
Moreover, develop, transform and implement initiatives that would lead to employment creation, which would improve the standard of living and overall welfare of Fijians.
Ladies and Gentlemen
With those words, my best wishes to you all in your efforts to become the most successful innovators and entrepreneurs and it gives me great pleasure to now invite the champion of happiness for our youths, the Honorable Prime Minister to deliver his Key Note Address.
Thank You and Vinaka Vakalevu.
View PDF->Minister’s Welcome Address – YES Launch