THE Government of Fiji received a cheque worth more than $1.7 million from the Government of India to continue the latter’s assistance towards the Fijian Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector. The visiting Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare from India, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, handed over the cheque to Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum at an event held at the Indian High Commission in Suva on Thursday night. The assistance was in terms of the memorandum of agreement (MOU) signed on February 27 this year to provide $US2.8m ($F5.7m) to the SME sector of Fiji. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said both countries shared a common ground. “Because what we have seen in India and Fiji, it’s the ordinary Fijians and Indians we need to assist on a day to day living,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said. “This microfinance assistance has tremendously changed the lives of thousands of Fijians in a small but in a decisive manner. This assistance helps provide people with seed funding.”
