THE Agricultural Marketing Authority (AMA) will not be closing down and will continue to be supported by the Fijian Government through the Ministry of Agriculture.
This was the word from Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management and Meteorological Services, Inia Seruiratu during the launch of the AMA website in Nausori.
Mr Seruiratu set the record straight after rumors that the AMA would be closing down.
He stressed that the launch of the website was an extension of AMA’s efforts to expand its services in this connection and make information more readily available to customers.
“Let me assure customers that the Agricultural Marketing Authority is not closing down; it is here to stay and will continue to be supported by Government as part of Government’s commitment to provide markets to and to improve the livelihood of rural communities through the use of their agricultural and fisheries resources,” Mr Seruiratu said.
“Businesses sell themselves short by not having a website and this is especially true for this Government company where rumors had been spread both locally and overseas in the recent past that the AMA was closing down,” Minister Seruiratu said.
Mr Seruiratu reiterated that the AMA was established by Government specifically to facilitate the purchase and sale of agro-produce from rural communities.
He added that a company’s online presence allowed it to reaffirm its credibility to customers and provide customers the convenience of accessing information about businesses at their leisure.
“These are the beauty of having a website and are the reasons the AMA had made a decision to invest in this website as a tool to maximize business opportunities to support the aspirations of the company,” Mr Seruiratu said.
“I understand that the website, is at the brochure level at this stage, but I will urge the AMA management to give thought to graduating this website to a level, sometime in the future where customers would be able to conduct business transactions, place orders and make payments online.”
