Fiji Sun

Accounting Firm to Review Agricultur­al Marketing Authority Business Processes

- MARAIA VULA Feedback: maraia.vula@fijisun.com.fj

The Agricultur­al Marketing Authority will soon be commission­ing a review of all its business processes.

In a statement, the chief executive officer, Agricultur­al Marketing Authority Alvin Sharma said after the review they would re-aligned to a new fruitful direction.

Process

“It would also mean bringing it in line with the modern Internatio­nal Financial Reporting Standards and the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

“The Agricultur­al Marketing Authority is now heading into a new direction, envisaged by its Board of Directors, the Minister of Agricultur­e, and the line Ministry – a direction which seeks to make the AMA self-sustainabl­e by May 2023. “A direction which will ensure that AMA pays out a dividend to the Government of Fiji for the first time ever since its inception.

“We have already initiated a closed tender and a reputable accounting firm will soon be appointed to carry out this comprehens­ive review.

“This is the start of a process for the AMA to realise its true potential and become a fully-fledged statutory body. At the same time, we have realised that our current supply chain management systems are unstructur­ed and volatile at present.

“It is prone to multiple shocks for e.g, where the farm to market costs are increased due to mobility issues. In the last couple of weeks, the AMA has received a large influx of new orders where we have faced multiple challenges in fully delivering on these orders.

“We have realised that if we are to truly grow our business then we need to take more control of our supply chain management system and ensure that it is a structured and sustainabl­e model.”

Mr Sharma said the staff of AMA are also energised to begin this new journey.

About Mr Sharma:

He was appointed CEO of AMA and took up office on April 1.

Mr Sharma, who is also the chairman of the Retail Council of the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation, has big plans to take the organisati­on forward.

He replaced acting CEO Setareki Tale who managed AMA over the past three years.

Mr Sharma said he had plans to boost AMA operations by increasing exports to countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

He had earlier highlighte­d that AMA would also explore more value adding services to the current range of goods.

His qualificat­ions include a Masters in Business Management and Public Administra­tion, and a post graduate certificat­e in human resources management – both from the University of the South Pacific.

 ?? Photo: Ministry of Agricultur­e ?? Agricultur­al Marketing Authority chief executive officer, Alvin Sharma (left) speaking to some farmers.
Photo: Ministry of Agricultur­e Agricultur­al Marketing Authority chief executive officer, Alvin Sharma (left) speaking to some farmers.

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