“It gives me great pleasure to launch the Fiji Enterprise Engine (FEE) Programme, the first private-sector led business accelerator in Fijian history.”
This was highlighted by the Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, Local Government, Housing and Community Development Hon. Premila Kumar at the launch of the Fiji Enterprise Engine (FEE) Programme.
Fiji Enterprise Engine (FEE) will have a group of 15 young men and women from the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector and this programme will run from March to November this year.
The program consists of mentoring and class room type learning on important business related topics.
Minister Kumar highlighted that MSMEs form the backbone of the Fijian economy and that they contribute over 18% of the GDP and provide employment for approximately 60% of the Fijian labour force.
“There are over 24,000 formally registered MSMEs in Fiji. And through various Government initiatives, we have been able to formalise a large number that otherwise would have remained informal. Since 2008, initiatives such as the Northern Development Programme, the Integrated Human Resources Development Programme and Micro and Small Business Grant have formalised over 40,900 MSMEs from all parts of Fiji,” Minister Kumar said.
She also said that Fiji’s 5-Year and 20-Year National Development Plan states that the growth of MSMEs is essential for job creation, income generation, poverty alleviation, rural development and the empowerment of youth and women.
Furthermore, the Fijian Government’s intervention focuses on improving the institutional setting, access to finance, business incubation, training and connecting MSMEs to markets.
The establishment of the Fiji Enterprise engine is set to address the provision of appropriate training to MSMEs who do not currently have technical capabilities to operate their own businesses.