The official visit to the Australian State of Victoria this week by Fiji’s High Commissioner to Australia, Mr Luke Daunivalu has yielded strengthened engagements with the Victorian State Government and the Fijian diaspora community in promoting trade, investment and development opportunities in Fiji for Australian businesses.
During his visit, Mr Daunivalu led a Fijian delegation where they attended a series of meetings with the Governor of Victoria, H.E. Linda Dessau, Mayor of Melbourne Ms Sally Capp, Hon. Martin Pakula, the Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Trade, Mr Andrew Crisp who is Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner, Ms Anne Sargent, the Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Council, Mr Josh Bull MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs, as well as representatives from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) and Marc Noyce, CEO for Biofilta Pty Ltd.
Key areas of collaboration identified between Fiji and Victoria included the sharing of information and knowledge transfer in Smart Cities, Sports Technologies, Emergency Services, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation as well as Water Management. The visit brought to the fore existing established relationships between several Melbourne-based companies and Fiji with opportunities for expansion.
The Fiji High Commission and the Fiji Trade Commission jointly organised a business networking event at the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne on Monday this week. Mr Daunivalu provided a political and economic update on Fiji and encouraged Australian businesses to consider Fiji as their next investment destination.
Mr Robert Cromb, Managing Director of Kookai, a global brand name in women’s fashion wear, shared a private sector perspective on investing in Fiji and provided an inspirational first-hand account of multilayered returns and benefits to Fiji’s economy over the years. Participants at the networking event included Senators, Federal and Victorian State Parliamentarians, Victoria Chamber of Commerce, government officials, business people, and members of the Fijian diaspora community.
With the support of Sydney-based staff from Fiji’s Consul-General and Trade Commission to Australia, consular services were provided to the diaspora community in Melbourne during the two-day program.
The official visit to Melbourne by Mr Daunivalu serves to reinforce the commitment to deepen and broaden Fiji’s relationship with Australia in various sectors.
It is evident that many promising opportunities exists for strengthening cooperation between Fiji, the State of Victoria and Australia as a whole, which the Fiji High Commission and Fiji Trade Commission will progressively pursue in the coming months.