Mission Director for USAID, Zema Semenegus,
Secretary-General for Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Honourable Henry Puna,
USP Vice Chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia,
Assistant Administrator for USAID, Michael Schiffer,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Firstly, let me again welcome USAID into fiji and echo Fiji’s keenness to unlock development opportunities with USAID. I can see you have hit the ground running.
Bula Vinaka and a very good afternoon to you all.
It’s my pleasure to be here today at the launch of USAID’s new Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership or DCCP.
I understand the DCCP covers 12 Pacific island countries, including Fiji, and focuses on two areas that we are also prioritising as a Nation – Firstly, access to meaningful connectivity and digital services and, Secondly, bolstering cybersecurity efforts across Government, the private sector and communities. Therefore, strategic partnerships and programmes, like this DCCP, and close consultation with multi-stakeholders, are key components to ensure that we progress towards a more sustainable and inclusive digital economy.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to talk about the efforts currently undertaken in these two important areas and the opportunities that strategic partnerships such as this can value-add to national efforts and the areas where it can make the most impact regionally.
The Coalition Government now more than ever is making strides, to improve meaningful connectivity and to invest in modern and resilient ICT infrastructure. 5G testing has also commenced and we are cognisant of the criticality of 5G networks and how it is needed for new and emerging technologies across our economies.
In Fiji, we have 95 percent internet connectivity through our 3G, 4G and 4G+ networks and to ensure meaningful universal connectivity, we are in close collaboration with the telecommunication operators and relevant stakeholders, to identify the remaining 5 percent of our people who are inadequately connected or not connected to the online world at all.
240 remote and maritime sites nationwide have already been identified and in taking a holistic approach, we are working with the provincial offices to identify any other community that is not covered under the current 240 declared sites. This is to ensure that when we progress – we progress to connect a whole province and not just a few villages or communities sparingly.
Fiji is also part of the UN Smart Island Programme and Rotuma has been identified as the pilot island. The goal is to address socio-economic challenges and improve livelihoods by connecting our people in Rotuma to a suite of digitally enabled services through the use of new and emerging technology and digital transformation. A scoping exercise has been completed. Once the Smart Island Programme is successfully rolled out in Rotuma, we can use those insights as we deploy to other unconnected and underserved areas.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To enhance our resilience and provide diversity, there are discussions underway on building a second submarine cable landing station here in Viti Levu. As part of our disaster-preparedness efforts, we have procured eight sets of emergency satellite equipment which can be prepositioned in the various divisions to rapidly deploy communications.
As I had mentioned earlier, seamless access to digital services is the Coalition Government’s priority.
Various services have been digitised – starting with the registries that deal with identity, namely the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages and Registry of Companies.
To ensure that government services continue to be customer-centric, we must be agile and my teams are constantly looking for areas of improvement that meets the mandate of the agencies and is user-friendly and seamless for our people.
Through our Business Now Project, in phase 1 we are unifying eight “Starting a Business” services into One Online Platform. This is made possible through our investment in the Fiji Integrated Licenses and Permits Approval System. Once this platform goes Live, for the first time local and foreign investors will be able to complete the “Starting a Business” process from the comfort of their homes and offices. This will continue in phase two which will add another seventeen services utilised for Building Permit and Approvals.
The second priority area is cybersecurity and this is even more pivotal as more of our people are becoming digitally savvy – as we offer more digital services. Cybersecurity ensures sustainable digital transformation and protects development by safeguarding supply chains, financial systems, intellectual property and critical infrastructure, to name a few.
We have a cybercrime law that is aligned to the Budapest Convention which is the only international instrument on electronic evidence and cybercrime. We are also in the process of establishing a National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) once the CERT Study Report is finalised.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have also commenced discussions on the drafting of our National Cybersecurity Strategy and will be looking at Data Protection frameworks, next. Our efforts to accede to and become a party to the Budapest Convention is advancing. In the last parliamentary session, the Parliamentary Standing Committee had submitted their Report on the accession and recommending Fiji’s accession. I look forward to this Report being tabled for debate and we continue to bolster our cybersecurity efforts, as a Nation and a region.
Through capacity building, we have facilitated dedicated capacity building workshops for criminal justice authorities including the judiciary, prosecution, law enforcement, and, policy agencies and we will continue to prioritise these efforts.
We are also actively participating and leading on the global front, through UN technology-specific negotiations which identify what states should and should not be doing in cyberspace and discussing the norms of responsible state behaviour.
Fiji is also part of the Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) negotiations and is closely working with the US which is chairing IPEF. IPEF will be a critical instrument in advancing Fiji’s economic cooperation with major trading partners, who constitute 60 percent of the world’s population and 40 percent of the GDP. The IPEF agreement which is the first of its kind has a dedicated chapter on Digital Economy within Pillar 1.
Fiji as the only true Pacific island country part of the IPEF is focussed on ensuring that the position of different IPEF members, who are unique in their stages of development, are taken into consideration and that there is a balance of commitments against benefits.
Fiji as the smallest economy in IPEF is welcoming the opportunities of Technical Assistance and Economic Cooperation which are baked into the IPEF. In the chapter for Digital Economy, Fiji is positive that the commitments outlined in areas such as Promotion of Resilient and Secure Digital Infrastructure, Facilitating the Use of Digital Technology and Access to Information will allow Fiji to continue to align its digital transformation, network infrastructure and legislation with standards accepted by all IPEF partners.
With digital services and infrastructure standards in parallel with that of other IPEF partners, Fiji will be able to expand its reach into markets previously not possible and also become more attractive in Business Outsourcing and other foreign investments.
Completion of all these commitments as Fiji has highlighted before will require support from our partners like the US to ensure that Fiji is able to meet its commitments and access the benefits in full. Therefore, we look forward to the upcoming rounds of negotiations to fine tune Technical Assistance and Economic cooperation while working towards the successful signing of the IPEF Agreement.
Coming back to the region, in two weeks’ time, I will be meeting with fellow Pacific ICT ministers to take stock of developments in digital transformation and cybersecurity, and discuss how we will progress the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In closing, there are so many things we can achieve as a guild with the support of partners such as the USAID and the DCCP, we will continue to promote an open, secure, accessible and peaceful ICT environment which will drive a more prosperous and resilient Region.
I thank you all for courteously attending today’s launch – let us band to continue prioritising the Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurityadvance of the Region.
Vinaka Vakalevu and thank you.