Fiji, Aust and N Z Business Councils Post-Budget Forum a success
On Wednesday the Fiji Australia Business Council welcomed the Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum to their Post Budget Forum.
Also speaking were the Australian High Commissioner John Feakes and the New Zealand High Commissioner Jonathan Curr.
The Fiji-New Zealand Business Council, The Australia-Fiji Business Council and the New Zealand-Fiji Business Council were also invited. The event was well attended with 90 participants and a lively Question & Answer session followed the presentations of the Minister for Economy and the two High Commissioners.
Many members commended the various initiatives that the Fijian Government has started rolling out in preparation of re-opening the economy to support Fiji’s economic recovery post COVID19 pandemic.
FABC President Warwick Pleass said “We had close to a hundred members joining in from the four business councils, being Fiji-Australia, Australia-Fiji, Fiji-New Zealand, and New ZealandFiji.
The well attended discussion generally supported the budget”.
He said that the members were also grateful to the Minister, Mr Sayed-Khaiyum, for clarifying queries and for the information provided on schemes such as the $200 million Government guaranteed loan for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises as well as the Government’s plans towards the health sector as the country strives to achieve herd immunity before end of year.
“We are grateful to have the Australian High Commissioner, John Feakes, and the New Zealand High Commissioner, Jonathan Curr, join us as well.
“Their engagement with the business councils is encouraging and will surely help foster collaborative opportunities to support Fiji’s economic recovery post COVID19 pandemic,” he said .
Mr Pleass also thank the Australian and New Zealand Governments for the COVID-19 vaccines that support’s Fiji’s health and economic recovery of the nation.
“We thank the members for their time and participation and wish them well for the year. Stay safe, get vaccinated and keep the engagement and the “vuvale” spirit alive,” he added.