The Communications portfolio will now come under Minister of Policing, Ioane Naivalurua.
Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka has made the announcement as Esrom Immanuel today assumes his role as the Minister for Finance, Commerce and Business Development.
Immanuel will take on certain responsibilities previously held by both the Ministry of Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics, and the Ministry of Trade, Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Communications.
Rabuka says the Ministry of Finance will now operate as a standalone ministry.
The functions of Strategic Planning, National Development, and Statistics will remain under Rabuka's portfolio.
External trade will be transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Cooperatives, investment, micro, small and medium enterprises, and other functions focusing on domestic trade, national trade measurement and standards, and business development will now fall under the newly established Ministry of Commerce and Business Development.
The Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister will coordinate with the Permanent Secretary for Finance, the Public Service Commission, and the Permanent Secretaries for Trade, Policing, and Foreign Affairs to ensure a smooth transition of staffing and budgetary responsibilities.
