Over the past 12 months, the Fiji Trade Commission to Australia has assisted with the registration and implementation of more than a dozen investment projects in Fiji from Australia in over half a dozen different sectors.
These have been valued at more than $25 million and generated more than 300 jobs in Fiji.
Trade Commissioner Daniel Stow made the announcement at a business talanoa session hosted by the Fijian diaspora in Sydney and attended by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
“We have added close to 10 per cent of value to Fiji’s overall merchandise trade with Australia over the past year, facilitating over $F70m in exports from Fiji,” Mr Stow said.
“The relationship between Fiji and Australia has never been closer and it has never been a better time to do business with one another.
“The strong people-to-people links that Australia and Fiji share now paves the way for even greater levels of economic cooperation and trade and investment ties.”
Mr Stow acknowledged the pivotal role played by the private sector in driving economic growth, creating jobs, promoting innovation and deepening the business-to-business relationship between the two countries.
He said the most important bridge between Australia and Fiji was its people-to-people ties, and that the Fijian diaspora in Australia was the foundation of that bridge.
Mr Stow also acknowledged the contribution that Fijians have made to Australian society whether that be in public life, through enterprise — establishing business and creating jobs, through food and culture, on the sporting field, or more recently performing critical roles in key sectors in the Australian economy under the PALM labour mobility scheme.
He said these Fijian workers did not only fill essential jobs but contributed also to their local communities.
