HON. PM BAINIMARAMA'S ADDRESS AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE FIJI CONSULATE GENERAL AND TRADE COMMISSION OFFICE

⦁ Minister for Industry Trade & Tourism, Lands & Mineral Resources, Honourable Faiyaz Koya;
⦁ Fiji’s High Commissioner to Australia, His Excellency Luke Daunivalu;
⦁ Fiji Consul General & Trade Commissioner, Mr Zarak Khan;
⦁ President of the Fiji Day Committee, Mr Allan Gock;
⦁ President of Australia Fiji Business Council, Mr Geoff Shaw;
⦁ Executive Director of Australia Fiji Business Council, Mr Frank Yourn;
⦁ Invited Guests & Friends of Fiji;
⦁ Ladies and Gentlemen

Bula Vinaka,

It is wonderful to be back in Sydney. I know this is a very exciting week to be in town as you host the Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who will be attending the Invictus Games this weekend. After which – I’m very happy to say – they’ll be headed to Fiji at the invitation of His Excellency the President. I know I speak for every Fijian when I say how eager we are to welcome Prince Harry and Meghan to our country – their visit has all the makings of a historic occasion. 

I’m here this afternoon, ahead of our Fiji Day celebrations here in Sydney this weekend, to officially open the doors of the newly relocated Fijian Consulate and Trade Commission Office, now placed in the heart of Sydney’s Central Business District, and rightly so. Because Fiji is the hub of the Pacific –– we are the hub of development, trade, investment and innovation –– and now we have a Consulate and Trade Commission Office right in the hub of business here in Sydney. 

Here in the heart of the CBD, we are now represented alongside major financial institutions, neighbours with businesses and investment partners who are waiting to do business with Fiji and Fijians. 

Today, first and foremost, is a recognition of the growing strength of our relationship with Australia. Our partnerships with the Australian Government and Australian businesses are stronger today than they have ever been, on the back of my Government’s strategic push to re-engage and redefine our bilateral relationship. 

We’re leaving old disagreements in the past, where they belong, and we’re writing a new chapter in our partnership –– putting Fiji and Australia in a position to take our cooperation to historic heights, particularly when it comes to opening up new and greater flows of trade and investment. 

I’ve long said that the single greatest driver of our resurgent relationship has been the friendship and affinity shared between the Australian and Fijian people, a friendship that stretches back to the very start of our independent history and long before. In recent history, I was honoured to call Prime Minister Turnbull my friend, and I look forward to forming a close relationship with Prime Minister Morrison to continue to strengthen our bilateral partnership on the basis of fairness and mutual respect. 

In 2016, I led the first high-level Fijian Government mission to Australia, solely dedicated to growing trade and investment between our countries. We also established this office as a Trade Commission, as well as a Consulate, in line with the economic focus of our diplomatic engagement. 

And today’s opening is only the latest milestone in our journey to deepen the ties that link our economies, for the benefit of even more of our people. 

So far, our journey forward has already led us to record flows of tourism, trade and investment between our countries. Fiji remains a favoured destination for Aussie tourists, with tourism earnings from the Australian market achieving a historic high last year of nearly one billion Fijian dollars. Our two-way trade is steadily on the rise, as the Fijian economy has soared to a record nine straight years of economic growth, and confidence in Fiji is sky-high, as seen in the nearly half a billion dollars’ worth of Australian investment into our country last year.

I’m especially proud that our two-way trade, now at around 1.12 billion dollars a year, has been driven by a four per cent increase in Fijian exports to the Australian market, as new Fijian products and businesses are expanding their reach throughout the region. And, really, I think we’ve barely scratched the surface when it comes to realising the potential of marketing Fijian-made goods in Australia. 

We have some very ambitious Fijians, at every age, putting forward ideas and launching more businesses every year, and it is the duty of this office to give those entrepreneurs the confidence and the opportunity to get their products on shelves here in lucrative markets Sydney and all across Australia. 

While we celebrate this new office and new location, we all know the Fijian presence here in Sydney is nothing new. Our staff at this office, led on the ground by our Consul General and Trade Commissioner Zarak Khan, will continue to be an invaluable information resource to the over 370,000 Australians who visit us in Fiji every year, as well as offering consular services to the 100,000 Fijians who live in Australia, the majority of whom are based here in New South Wales. And I would like to acknowledge the effort of this office in assisting your fellow Fijians who were badly affected this past cyclone season, as you collected and contributed disaster relief materials and donations that went directly towards those Fijians left devastated in the aftermath of another round of intense storms earlier this year. 

To our staff here today: I’m proud of the progress we’ve made building bridges with the business community here in Sydney and across Australia, but we’re only just getting started. Our economy is nearing a decade of unbroken growth, and the projections beyond that all point to even greater economic success for our people. We have a story in Fiji that the world wants to hear: a modern, dynamic economy in the throes of rapid economic growth and infrastructure development. A nation that is investing heavily in the education of its citizens, and fielding a highly competitive, English-speaking workforce. A nation that enjoys stability, security and unity among its people. And a nation eager for new investment, new industry and new opportunity. 

That’s the message we’re taking to the world, and as our staff in this office, you are on the front lines of carrying that message as far and as widely as possible. We aren’t the Fiji of ten or twenty years ago; while we’re still the same beautiful island destination the world knows and loves, we’ve also grown to become so much more. 
And businesses across Australia, across the Pacific and all around the world need to hear that message loud and clear. It’s my job as Prime Minister to make sure they do, and it’s your job as well. Together, I know we’ll forge relationships that bring even greater investment to our country, that bring more jobs to our people, and that help fuel the next decade of Fijian progress and prosperity. 

With those few words, I declare this new office officially open. 

Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.