ABOUT 26,000 civil servants in the country will be assessed on their individual performance and paid accordingly from next year.
This was revealed by Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama during the Service Excellence Awards night at the Novotel Convention Centre on Friday.
Commodore Bainimarama said the better civil servants perform, the more money they would receive.
"This is one of the basic reforms of all to reward individual effort and encourage initiative and innovation," he said.
Commodore Bainimarama said the government was freeing its smart workers from being grouped with their less ambitious peers and giving them opportunity to excel and reap the benefits.
He highlighted that at the beginning of this year, civil servants received a 3 per cent pay rise while doctors and nurses got an additional 3 per cent to recognise the special work they do and police officers received a 9 per cent pay rise incorporating the job evaluation exercise.
Commodore Bainimarama said his government was also fortunate to have assistance from outside Fiji to raise the country's overall standards.
"No country in the Asia -Pacific region inspires us more than Singapore. Singapore is the way Fiji aspires to be, the way Fiji will be if Fijians work hard as Singaporeans do to make it happen."
He added that his government was implementing best practices and standards and had shown the world that Fiji could and would progress.