PM: Post Fiji plays a vital role
No business can thrive for 15 decades unless the work they do matters and the work of Post Fiji certainly does.
This were the kind words of Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, on Saturday, December 18, while he officiated at 150 years “Sesquicentennial” celebration of Post Fiji Limited at the Vodafone Arena in Laucala Bay, Suva.
Established in Levuka in the year 1871, the institution predates the colony of Fiji by three years and as Prime Minister Bainimarama puts it ‘ the sheer longevity of the institution speaks of the vital role it plays in the life of the nation’.
Post Fiji came to be in 1871 through the passage of the first Postal Act by the then Legislative Assembly and from its early years in Levuka, the business grew to become our first truly national network.
“In doing so, the institution bridged thousands of kilometers of islands and ocean to bring our people together in ways we all now take for granted,” Mr Bainimarama said.
“Connections like that create possibilities and when people can communicate reliably, they can work together, they can build together, and they can overcome provincial and regional distinctions and strive for something more, something greater that cre
ates a truly national benefit.”
“To put it simply, a more connected Fiji is a more united Fiji and a stronger Fiji, and Post Fiji is a pillar of a connected, strong and united nation,” he added.
The Prime Minister further said that it was staggering to consider everything this business has helped Fijians to do exemplifying letters to friends, money orders to families, savings bank services, gifts to that special someone and news of events at home and around the world that have shaped history.
“All of it is made possible due to
the services of the staff and leadership of the institution through the decades,” he said.
“Today, your branches are open in every town and city in Fiji and your network of delivery extends to the most rural and maritime regions of the country.”
Further elaborating, Mr Bainimarama said it was our charge to look forward, to build on history and pursue a vision of what the business can become.
“To find Post Fiji’s place in the world to come, we must start by recognising how the world is changing,” he added.
“You do not need to run a mail room to realise that the business model of every postal service in the world has been challenged by digital technology.
“This business has never been about one person or one letter.
“It is about the hundreds of thousands of people and the hundreds of thousands of letters, newspapers, packages and correspondence that have connected Fijians to each other and to the world for a century and a half.
“Imagine the decades of happiness you’ve helped deliver. That is the legacy you steward. That is the legacy we celebrate.”
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Post Fiji service volumes were up by 20 percent, Mr Bainimarama said.
“As essential personnel, when the nation locked down you flew into action, crossing containment area borders to deliver packages to families who were staying safely at home,” he said.
“Even when their doors were shuttered, entrepreneurs relied on your network to reach their online customers - helping them weather the most difficult economic chapter in our history.”
Digital transformation
The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed transformation into overdrive –– sending data usage in Fiji up by 300 per cent ––at a rate that isn’t stalling or even slowing, Mr Bainimarama said.
“Post Fiji is adapting alongside new technologies and consumer habits, an increasingly moved online,” he said.
“You’ve identified opportunity in the rural and maritime market and, thanks to a new range of products, you can nearly do a whole day’s shopping in any one of your stores.”
“Post Fiji, the largest distribution network in the country, must become the most digitally-savvy delivery service in the Pacific.”