The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has extended assistance to the National Women’s Expo 2015 in the form of $15,000 contribution.
The Minister, Hon. Faiyaz Koya, while handing the cheque to the Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Hon. Rosy Akbar, said Government was assisting women entrepreneurs through various channels including small and micro enterprise grants.
He said the expo ties in well with the Ministry’s successful Fijian brand under the Fijian Made Buy Fijian campaign in that it promotes women artisans as it creates a market for the women crafters.
“The Fijian Made-Buy Fijian Campaign, we have established a successful brand, that today has enabled sixty licensed Fijian Crafters to sell Fijian Crafted artefacts directly to renowned retail stores and hotels in Fiji,” Minister Koya said.
“This has created a new stream of income that these individuals did not have. Today they are earning on average $2,000 a month each, which is an injection of approximately $1.4million in the Fijian economy.”
Minister Akbar said around 95 per cent of the recipient for the SME grants were women and the SME sector had played a big role in the positive economic growth.
She said the funding will be utilised towards the Expo Excellence Awards as creating competition with quality awards was a business innovation for greater excellence.
Minister Akbar said, “We are shaping the way women empowerment in Fiji will be in the future which is very bright. I urge the Fijian women to grab the opportunity as there is a lot to be gained,” she said.
The National Women’s Expo 2015 will be held at the Vodafone Arena in Suva from October 14-16, 2015.