The Fijian’s Unique Advantages and the Exploration of a National Development Direction

Catalyst to invigorate a prosperous and thriving Fijian economy

Young people now choose their own development path cautiously when they first enter society.

Choosing the right direction will basically determine one’s future success in life.

Choosing a country’s development direction may be more complex than that of an individual, but the basic principle is the same. When individuals choose their direction for life, they must first consider what he or she likes and what he or she has advantages over the others. Now let’s take a look at the advantages of Fijians.

In my opinion, the biggest advantage of Fijians is their passion towards sports together with excellent physical fitness which Fijians are born with.

For example, our sevens rugby team was crowned Olympic champions and we have often dominated the international sevens rugby tournaments.

This is the advantage of the Fijian people, even more the advantage of the country.

Fijians’ passion and innate athleticism are shown through running and sweating on the sports field. This gift in sports is a unique and precious strength in Fiji, which has been proven through past history and facts.

A country should always be clear of its own development direction, what are its own advantages, how it can position itself on the world stage and when it comes to moving forward.

Fiji’s development direction could be found by making use of the Fijian people’s sportsmanship and promote Fiji into a country of strong sports resources, which eventually leads Fiji into developing its own sports-based economic power.

If the direction for developing the country is set, the enthusiasm of the people will surely be stimulated.

Inspiring the people to have an unremitting spirit for solidarity, optimism and hard work throughout the country by boosting the national sports spirit will play an invaluable role which will help national patriotism and integrity to promote unity and smooth development.

To build a strong nation through sports, we cannot get there without solid economic and industrial support.

The idea of building a strong country through sports means to focus on developing a sports economy and showcase Fiji’s national image and brand with the vitality of sports.

Our goal is not to boost sports to slow down the economy, but to develop and promote economic growth through the development of sports, which ultimately makes Fiji a country with strong sports and economic power. Through the construction of large-scale sports venues, urban planning and layout should focus on making Fiji stand out as a sports-based economy.

This will increase tourist interests by showing Fiji as a youthful and dynamic country.

Stadiums, grass fields, courtyards, and sculptures around the city will all reflect the image of Fiji as a nation of sports loving people. After implementing these improvements, Fiji will attract regional and international competitions as well as small-scale invitational tournaments, seasonal sports training (some countries can train in Fiji during their winter seasons) and so on.

Sports activities in Fiji will greatly boost the development of tourism, food, transportation and service industries, which will in turn make more athletes and tourists to love Fiji and increase the reputation of Fiji gradually. Promoting Fiji as a nation of sports and maximising the use of tourism resources will give full play to Fiji’s position as a regional connecting hub.

Although with such an advantage, Fiji will become a unique sportsbased economic entity; Fijians have another explicit advantage and that is strong communicating skills and leadership.

This has been demonstrated well by the outstanding performance of our Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, as President of COP23 in the Global Climate Change Summit in Bonn, Germany, and the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in London, Britain.

Fiji is a country that contributes globally through its leadership and it should increase its participation in international affairs and raise its voice for people of the island countries.

In short, it is time to give full play to these strengths that Fijians have, especially the indigenous people, in order to form a national advantage and to invigorate the spirit of all Fijians.

The morale of the country and its people is the source of prosperity and happiness and we hope that the rise of Fiji within the global community of nations will come to pass in the not too distant future.