As many as 300 delegates are expected at the 35th joint Fiji-New Zealand/New Zealand-Fiji Business Council conference that officially opens today at Sofitel on Denarau, Nadi.
“The atmosphere is incredible and the business community are excited,” Fiji-New Zealand Business Council president James Trusler said while confirming that number to this newspaper.
“Everything is going great (preparations leading up to the event).
“We, the FNZBC, have an amazing team on our committee with various skills so as a team we have been working very long hours to make this a smooth event. We have also had the support of the Fijian Protocols Office and the New Zealand High Commission so a very large team has been working extremely hard in the background.
“There is so much potential being explored between our two nations.”
The theme all week since the arrival of the NZBC Fiji Business Mission on Monday and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Tuesday has been one of closer and stronger ties with Fiji and with the two prime ministers scheduled to speak at today’s opening, there’s a lot riding on what they will say.
“We look forward to them setting the scene for the day with their vision for our two nations’ partnership and future strategic growth opportunities throughout Fiji and wider Pacific,” Mr Trusler said.
“The future is definitely exciting. New connections have been formed across multiple disciplines. We expect to see growth in many of our industrial and reciprocal export sectors as well as health, welfare, education, climate change, and disaster resilience.
“The economic and social benefits to Fiji and NZ are endless. It’s a pivotal time to forge partnerships, never has there been more opportunity between both our nations to create future-focused commercial and community success and resilience,” Mr Trusler said.
“We encourage more businesses to join our respective business councils. Fiji is the place to be. Watch this space.”
