Over 200 delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and across Fiji, convened at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva from Thursday to Saturday last week for the 28th Fiji-Australia Business Council (FABC) and Australia-Fiji Business Council (AFBC) Joint Business Forum.
Over 200 delegates from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and across Fiji, convened at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva from Thursday to Saturday last week for the 28th Fiji-Australia Business Council (FABC) and Australia-Fiji Business Council (AFBC) Joint Business Forum.
The premier business event had by far the largest contingent of delegates that FABC and AFBC have seen in any of their previous 28 forums. There were government representatives, development actors, business leaders, industry experts, professionals, consultants, economists, and academics altogether making a very powerful gathering of people. Notably, three Ministers from Fiji spoke at the forum – Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Hon. Lenora Salusalu Qereqeretabua; Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration, Hon. Pio Tikoduadua; and the Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications, Hon. Manoa Kamikamica, who officiated the Opening of the forum and also attended the event from beginning to end.
“We exceeded our expectations for the number of delegates who signed up for our signature event annually organised and co-hosted by FABC and our counterpart organisation, AFBC. As the Acting Prime Minister said at our Welcome Reception, the participation of so many not only underscores the deep and enduring ties that Australia and Fiji share, but also provides us with a unique opportunity to address the new challenges that we now face together,” stated FABC President, Ms Vera Chute.
Senator The Hon. Tim Ayres’ address who joined the forum via Live Cross, and Australia’s Acting High Commissioner Clair McNamara’s message reflected Fiji’s Acting Prime Minister’s sentiments on our strong partnership and our joint responsibility in building a shared economic future for the Pacific that is resilient, sustainable and prosperous. Furthermore, Acting High Commissioner Clair McNamara remarked that the renewed and elevated Vuvale Partnership signed in October 2023 directly speaks to the forum’s theme, New Challenges, New Solutions. As active partners to Fiji she conveyed that they have since delivered and will continue to do so, “Over the past ten months, we have signed new grant agreements to the value of FJD157.3 million, delivering on priorities across all five pillars of the Partnership.”
Illustrious experts from their fields gave some excellent presentations that generated impactful conversations such as Fiji becoming a part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF. Fiji being the only Pacific Island Country that is a part of this agreement that makes up 40% of the world’s GDP and one-third of all global trade is truly groundbreaking. Investment Fiji showed that the value of existing investment projects in infrastructure in Fiji from now until 2030 is valued up to FJD 6 billion, and Austrade worked incessantly to provide a database detailing a consolidated infrastructure pipeline of 104 packages worth FJD 1.7 billion from Fiji’s six procuring agencies that was made available to all participating delegates.
Other notable information circulated in the forum included the Government of Fiji’s work on the Immigration Reform recognising the importance of attracting investors to drive economic growth in the country. Investments in various sectors were discussed such as the entrance of Starlink and Google building a Data Hub in Fiji worth FJD200 million, the rapid growth of the BPO sector, potential huge players in commercial agriculture, and the focus on renewable energy and climate solutions. In Tourism, we learned that July 2024 was the biggest single month for tourism in Fiji in terms of arrivals; and that one of the big moves in the industry is that the Fiji Tourism Development Program in Vanua Levu or the Na Vualiku Project implemented by the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and funded by the World Bank has kicked off and is already in its first phase.
AFBC President, Allison Haworth West wrapped it up perfectly with thoughts on the whole experience, “We all know that people-to-people connections are fundamental to business, and the meaningful connections we have either forged or renewed in the last few days will strengthen our business partnerships and linkages between our two countries. I encourage and invite everyone to Australia in 2025 when AFBC hosts the next forum. Let’s continue this upward momentum!” She concluded the Forum by inviting delegates to Australia in 2025 for the 29th Australia Fiji Business Forum.
FABC and AFBC thank all the generous sponsors and partners who supported the Joint Business Forum; Westpac, Fiji Airways, Swire Shipping, Vodafone, Joyce Aviation Group, Value City, Comfort Home Furnishing, and Aquasafe; Media partners, The Fiji Times, and FBC.
