‘Fiji has lots of opportunities for trade, economic growth’

FIJI has a lot of opportunities for trade and economic growth, says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for External Trade Cooperatives and SMEs Manoa Kamikamica.

Speaking to members of the media after a ministerial briefing at his office on Monday, Mr Kamikamica said he would also liaise with Investment Fiji to get the ball rolling on some of the existing opportunities for the country.

“One of the big areas is obviously reforms and making business easier in our country,” he said.

“Now that the elections are over, naturally some of the investments that were probably being held up, business people will start looking at whether they go ahead with those investments.

“We’ll certainly do everything we can to make those happen. And I know that there are some big projects that are planning to come online soon. So again, our job is to make those happen and start the economy moving. It’s clear that we’re still recovering from COVID.

“In terms of visitor arrivals, we have 65 per cent, so Mr (Viliame) Gavoka will have the task of trying to get us back to 100 per cent. We’d like to see other parts of the economy, particularly in terms of diversification, try and push that along.”

One of the areas of focus in the coming days will be the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) sector. Mr Kamikamica said the focus would be on bringing more youth and women into the foray to join, operate and own small businesses.

“I’ll be doing a bit more of a deeper dive into the MSME sector, but clearly there’s opportunities in that area. I mean, because of COVID they’ve pulled back a bit on some of the initiatives.

“So you know, we just need to have a look at what’s in the coffers and invest more in that space and see what augurs well with youth in Fiji, so it’s a great opportunity. We can continue to work in that area and invest in that area.”

One of the big areas is obviously reforms and making business

easier in our country

– Manoa Kamikamica