17 entrepreneurs, including 13 women, received their business training certificates, marking another step forward in Fiji’s effort to empower micro, small, and medium enterprises.
While speaking at the handover, Permanent Secretary for Trade, Cooperatives, MSMEs, and Communications Shaheen Ali emphasized that the training was not a standalone gesture, but part of a larger, strategic approach to fostering sustainable business development in Fiji.
Ali says equipping our entrepreneurs with the right knowledge and skills is just as important as providing financial support, underscoring the Ministry’s commitment to comprehensive MSME growth.
He says many of the graduates were also recipients of the Ministry’s Trade Enhancement Programme, a grant initiative that provides capital purchases such as tools of trade, sewing machines, or equipment for small businesses.
He says this training was designed to ensure that the government’s investment in their businesses yields meaningful and successful outcomes.
Ali adds over three intensive days, participants underwent the internationally recognized Start and Improve Business training.
He stresses the course covered essential business fundamentals, including record keeping, marketing, costing, customer understanding, and cash flow planning, such as the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service and Tower Insurance, providing additional insight into taxation and MSME-specific insurance solutions.
He says the plan will include a central database, a customer relationship management tool, and a continuous monitoring mechanism to track business growth and provide consistent guidance, and this institutional strengthening marks a shift in how the government sees MSMEs, not as peripheral players, but as essential contributors to national economic growth.
Ali says through these policy measures, they are improving our support and ensuring that the MSME sector’s
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