Honourable Speaker of Parliament,
The Honourable Prime Minister,
Honourable Deputy Prime Ministers,
Honourable Leader of the Opposition,
Honourable Cabinet Ministers and Assistant Ministers,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Your Excellencies, High Commissioners, Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic Corp,
The People of Fiji who may listening this Broadcast thru Walesi or livestreaming or listening on Radio today.
Before I begin, may by acknowledging na Turaga na Tui Suva, the ancestral owners of the Land on which the People’s house stands and the generations past, present and future.
I congratulate the DRUA Team, its Coach, for its Victory on Saturday. All I can say Sir, the next Xvs World Cup cannot come soon enough.
It is with a deep sense of Honour Honourable Speaker that I rise today in support of the motion of the Honourable PM “To thank His Excellency the President of the Republic of Fiji, Ratu Kiniviliame Maivalili Katonivere’s for his most gracious speech’’
After 1 year, 2 months and 17 days or 444 days since committing to serve our beloved Country, with all its learnings and challenges, Mr Speaker Sir I remain committed to serving my Country to the best of my ability.
In doing so, I shall firstly endeavour Honourable Speaker to provide some insights into parts His Excellency’s most gracious speech before providing a stocktake of what the Ministry of Trade, SME’s, Co-operatives and Communications has done for the People of Fiji and its plans into 2024/2025.
Mr Speaker, you will recall that when I made my Maiden speech, I prayed for the wisdom of King Solomon. His Excellency’s speech exudes that same wisdom.
His Excellency asks us to:
1. Listen to the Voices of the People, all the People of Fiji
2. Respect the integrity and dignity of Parliament
3. Guard against unscrupulous politicians sowing divisions and mistrust amongst us for their own political ends, and
4. Work across the aisles to find common ground on critical issues facing our Nation and put people first.
From the People’s Coalition perspective Honourable Speaker, we could not agree more.
The People’s Government committed to several actions with an assurance that the People of Fiji would be involved and their Government would listen to their views. There has been the Fiscal Committee review, the Economic Summit and Education Summit Mr Speaker Sir. This approach of listening to the People Sir works well and will continue.
We ratified on a Bi Partisan basis, the IPEF Pillar 2 Supply Chain, the Honourable PM invited the Leader of Opposition to COP 28 and Honourable Koya attended as we stand at the commencement of a new parliamentary year. I am also happy to note that the National Taskforce on Pornography was approved in Cabinet and will be approached on a bi partisan basis.
The signs are positive and I am sure we will do more together this year heeding his Excellency’s call.
On his Excellency’s to plea for us to guard against unscrupulous Politicians who wish to sow seeds of division in our beloved Nation, I say this Honourable Speaker – if there is one of us in this House that is doing this, you have no place in this August House nor in the New Fiji.
When we look at the His Excellency’s most gracious in totality, it is really talking about Rebuilding Fiji – from infrastructure, the truth and reconciliation commission, speeding up the green transition, updating and reviewing legislation and so forth.
The question is why Honourable Speaker – its because of the mismanagement on the other side of House. We have an unsustainable debt issue, a massive drug problem, a broken down Health system, an Education system that requires etc etc.
But I will Honour the exhortation by his Excellency Mr Speaker say and say this. We have a major task ahead of us and we can only solve these issue if we work together starting with this House.
Mr. Speaker Sir,
In the pursuit of progress and prosperity let us be guided by the principles of justice, equality, and compassion. Let us continue to Rebuild Fiji where every individual has the opportunity to prosper and progress.
Allow me to share with this August House the work achieved and plans by the Ministry I am honoured to lead as we navigate the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead.
His Excellency points out the return of the Nation’s economic activity to Pre-pandemic levels and anticipated growth of 3.8% and 3.0% for 2024 and 2025 which is a positive.
This is against continued global risks like the Ukraine War and the escalating tensions in Gaza which will remain challenges.
At present Debt to GDP is around 75.6% remains unsustainable.
To this end the Ministry which I am honoured to lead will do its utmost to continue to target higher GDP growth rates (at least 5% per annum) working together with all agencies of Government and the Private sector and Civil society.
Our Ministry believes this can be achieved by pushing for an investor friendly environment, drive opportunities for new Investment and trade growth and push for digitization of the Fijian economy.
Some of the areas where our focus will be are:
-Continue to strive for an Investor friendly environment especially ease of doing business collaborating with Private Sector.
-Continued to drive closer, stronger and broader trade and investment ties with all partners
– Continue to drive for genuine economic diversification
-Continued focus on Regional hubbing agenda
-Continued focus on harnessing ICT in Fiji
Some of us may recall that when we got into office Mr Speaker, a major Investor in Fiji had its FJD 30m project at Nadi airport put on hold for some inexplicable reason. This investor has spent at least 800m already in Fiji over the years and sends up to FJD 30m in Foreign exchange a year.
To have treated a Key investor in such a cavalier manner was not acceptable and was a major cause of concern for the investment climate. Together with the Honourable Gavoka and Honourable PM, we immediately allowed this investment to proceed which sent a clear message to both local and foreign investors that the People’s Government was keen to drive investment.
Since then we have not stopped Honourable Speaker:
-With the change in Investment Fiji’s mandate from being a regulator to facilitator of Domestic and Foreign investment, we are making good progress in terms of driving investment in Fiji.
The current Investment pipeline stands at FJD 3Billion and growing. There is a mood to invest in the Country from renewable energy, commercial agriculture, Tourism and expansion of exisiting operations such as Fiji Water recently.
• We have created an Investment Facilitation Committee which an interagency committee which looks at investment bottlenecks and tries to fix them. If things don’t move, the Minister gets involved.
• We have a taskforce to aid with the Set-up of Commercial Agriculture – we hope to make some very positive announcements soon.
• The Automation of Business processes relating to Starting Business and the Building Permit Approvals is underway. This is a pilot phase which aims to automate 25 processes across 16 agencies.
• Whilst automation of these processes are underway, there is another exercise underway to relook at business processes in several other key agencies such as Immigration, Environment and Lands before automation. We have assistance from the private sector on this initiative.
• Together with these Continuous reforms, the Ministry is also getting ready for World Bank the successor of ‘Doing Business Report’, ‘B Ready’ which is on the horizon with the data collection expected mid this year.
• For investment growth, we are also looking at like the Policy Framework for Significant Investments and a Policy framework Diaspora Investment.
This is being considered to promote and attract strategic investment.
It is no secret that after 16 years, there is a lot to fix and we are committed as a Ministry as well as the People’s Coalition Government to fix these issues.
Mr Speaker Sir, Government hears the frustration of the Business community and are taking action.
To the LOP, we do have a pretty good Trade Policy. It will be reviewed but it is pretty good.
Fiji’s strategic decision to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a 14-member economic club representing 40% of Global GDP underlines our readiness to play a proactive role in shaping the regional trade and economic architecture. As the only Pacific Island country to join this initiative, Fiji has actively engaged in negotiations across all four IPEF pillars of cooperation on trade, supply chain resilience, a clean economy, and fair economy.
We intend to bring 2 further Pillars, Pillar 3: Clean Economy and Pillar 4: Fair Economy to Parliament for ratification on a Bi Partisan basis.
The entry of Google can be seen as part of the early IPEF harvest Mr Speaker Sir and there are planned IPEF specific Trade and Investment missions to Singapore and USA on the back of this economic club.
We also plan to relook at PACER PLUS in 2024 emphasizing full consulation with Fiji’s private sector. The Interim Economic Partnership Agreement ratification subject to Cabinet approval with the EU will provide better market access for Fiji Exports will be considered.
Our Trade Missions have been active Mr Speaker Sir.
In 2023 our Trade Commission based in Australia and New Zealand facilitated over F$70m in exports to these markets (an increase of over 15 percent on the previous year), adding approximately 8.5 percent to the value of Fiji’s overall exports to Australia and New Zealand. This year the Trade Commission aims to increase facilitated exports by a further 20%.
The Trade Commission also contributed to key events such as the Spartan Fiji adventure tourism race (the first major post-pandemic event in Fiji) which will continue this year and in 2025.
Last year we successfully completed a trade and investment mission to New Zealand and hosted a Business Forum in Australia – and this year we will see business missions reverse missions.
The Trade Commission North America has had a remarkable year, starting with the inauguration of the Fiji Trade Commission North America Office in May 2023, in San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. It played a crucial role in facilitating the transformative Google Submarine Cable project, as well as diverse landing station and data center investments in Fiji.
Some of our major Commercial Agriculture ventures are arising from the USA.
We are planning a Fiji – North America Business Mission this year, aiming to visit potentially 4 states in North America and Canada, fostering investment and trade opportunities. There are 100,000 diasporas in Canada.
Trade Commission North America has also been instrumental in supporting Fiji’s exporters and conducting market research for key export products to North America. Notably, it facilitated the purchase of over 50 Metric tons of mature ginger by the Ginger People, providing a much-needed market for Fijian farmers.
For China, we recently secured some potential Investors estimated around USD 45m covering Noni Commercial farming and Forestry apart from developing potential areas for investment with interested parties.
Mr Speaker Sir,
The development of the Medicinal Cannabis Industry as well as a broader Nutraceutical economy including a potential Billion Dollar Kava Industry is key focus for Government.
With the advent of Google and the second Sub sea cable, this should drive greater expansion in our ICT Industry. The re is an opportunity to create very good paying jobs thru ICT Industry.
Commercial Agriculture is also a key focus with Interest from USA, NZ and Israeli investors.
BPO Outsourcing is a key sector as well which has undergone quite solid growth in 2023. We believe it can be rival Tourism and we have been supporting its rapid growth.
Moves to reinvigorate the Mahoghany Industry is supported by the Ministry as well. This is a potential Biliion dollar Industry.
Finally, I am also looking at SME’s as a major Sector in terms of opportunities for Economic diversification. It is already 18% of GDP. The Ministry is very committed to develop and harness SME growth.
Mr Speaker,
We just had the first MSME conference last week that was organised by Business Assistance Fiji. It gave us, as policy makers, another opportunity to hear directly from MSME and stock take of what needs to be done:
● Improve Access to Finance
● Improve Regulatory Environment
● Improve Access to Information
● Improve Business Support Services
Our bid to improve access to capital for businesses, the Ministry is working on with the Reserve Bank of Fiji and the Asian Development Bank on an Access to Capital Bill, which will be presented later in the year. This will narrow the financing gap and unlock more investments into the private sector.
Mr Speaker Sir,
In parallel to this, we are also working with UNESCAP to develop a MSME Strategic Plan that paves the road map to grow MSMEs in Fiji.
Mr. Speaker Sir,
The support of Co-operatives remains a pivotal force driving entrepreneurship growth, especially in our rural communities, and it remains highly relevant today. The success of co-operatives is rooted in the “Solesolevaki” concept synonymous with the iTaukei communal way of living.
Mr Speaker Sir,
In the last financial year, the Ministry conducted 232 awareness, registered 77 co-operatives, and provided training to 833 Fijians, with a notable 85 percent increase in co-operative registration compared to the same period in the previous financial year.
Critically, as the economy diversifies, the need for strong standards will continue to be a priority. Standards in the various sectors such as – climate change mitigation, construction, food safety and energy management not only enhance trade opportunities but also ensure the safety, quality, and reliability of goods and services. The Department of National Trade Measurement and Standards will play a key role.
Adequately resourcing DNTMS is a key step towards fostering consumer confidence, promoting sustainable development and providing reassurance to the consumer that internationally agreed standards are being recognised and used.
Fiji’s status as a Regional Hub continues to grow. It already has developed Hubbing capacity from Shipping and Aviation, Medical Support, and Education.
From an ICT perspective, the recent Google Subsea cable initiatives has also brought this to Regional Hub from an ICT perspective a reality. The two new subsea fibre cables that will be built — The ‘Tabua’ cable will connect the United States to Fiji onward to Australia and the ‘Bulikula’ cable will connect Fiji to Guam, onward to Asia. There is also an announced interlinking cable between Fiji and French Polynesia, whereby French Polynesia will have onward connections to Chile, USA and Australia.
Google will also build a cable landing station and a Tier III data centre.
There maybe an opportunity to set up the DNTMS in Fiji as a Regional Centre of excellence.
Mr Speaker Sir,
As we rebuild Fiji, I believe that digitalisation remains an essential driver for economic and social development. The Coalition Government’s focus is unwavering — to provide an enabling, conducive, and secure ICT environment for private sector led growth and to empower our people through financial inclusion and access to essential digital services.
Mr Speaker Sir,
Alongside the Google cable initiatives, the licencing of Starlink – we anticipate their business operations to commerce over the next month – are key enablers in this endeavour.
We are actively collaborating with the Telecommunications Authority of Fiji and stakeholders to leverage new and emerging technologies to ensure that we connect our most isolated communities and islands.
Mr Speaker Sir,
The World Economic Forum in its Global Risks Report 2024 stated that cyber security is a significant risk. The People’s Government is committed to putting in place the necessary policy, legislative and regulatory framework to ensure a safe and secure cyberspace for a digital society.
Scammers and cyber criminals are constantly advancing and that is why the Coalition Government established the Anti-Scam Task Force, a first of its kind initiative.
To ensure that we continue to respond to evolving challenges, I am pleased to announce key priority areas over the next year which we will continue with or embark on:
a) We are making preparations to accede to the Budapest Convention.
b) A review of the ICT Department is being undertaken from a Cybersecurity and service delivery perspectives.
b) We are executing a Cybersecurity Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Government as part of our commitments under the Vuvale Partnership, shortly. This will provide the framework for cooperation amongst our various agencies.
c) We are actively developing the National Digital Strategy, Cybersecurity strategy which will harness the Government’s push for digitization.
d) We intend to operationalise our National Computer Emergency Response Team within the next few months. Think of this important team as critical as the fire authority or the ambulance service.
g) Last November, I had advised Parliament that I would be presenting a paper to Cabinet on the establishment of a nationwide Taskforce to combat Pornography and we will also be inviting the Opposition to join us in this mission.
In closing Honourable Speaker, let us Rebuild Fiji together. We owe it to our Children and their Children.
May God Bless His Excellency the President. May God bless Honourable Prime Minister, and fellow members of this August House.
May God Bless the People of Fiji.