Gandhi and Tikolevu appointed as new FRCS Board of Directors member

Nitin Gandhi and Jitoko Tikolevu have been appointed as new members of the Board of Directors of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS).

While welcoming the new Directors, FRCS Chief Executive Officer Udit Singh says the new Board of Directors have valuable expertise and perspectives that will help provide effective strategic direction and oversight to FRCS.

He says their diverse talent and expertise will enhance the strength and impact of their board and their ability to achieve their strategic objectives as they work towards being a world-class revenue service delivering excellence in revenue collection, border protection, trade and travel facilitation.

FRCS says Tikolevu was the former Fiji High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK) from 2016 to 2023 and he was also the CEO of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority (now Fiji Revenue and Customs Service) from 2007 to 2015 and the Deputy Board Chair of the Fiji Development Bank (FDB) and the Investment Fiji until December 2015.

He has obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Business Studies from the University of the South Pacific (USP) and a Masters in Taxation degree from the University of Auckland.

Tikolevu says he is looking forward to contributing and working together with the current FRCS Board.

Gandhi is a Chartered Accountant and the former managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and he is also a fellow of the Australia and the New Zealand Charted Accountants, former president of the Fiji Institute of Charted Accountants, an accredited mediator, former president of the Fiji Red Cross Society and a current member of the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) Audit and Risk Commission in Geneva.

FRCS says he has over 38 years of experience providing professional services, mainly in assurance, taxation and advisory to numerous businesses in Fiji and regional countries across multiple industries, including tourism, aviation, energy, manufacturing, retail, agriculture and financial services.

While accepting the appointment, Gandhi noted the challenges facing FRCS in its reforms and administrative systems.

Gandhi says there is a need to embrace globalisation and digitalisation to ensure FRCS serves its customer base in the most efficient and fairest way.

He says modernising tax compliance and developing systems accordingly would be key to the economic development of the country.