The general lack of awareness among medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs) on the importance of insurance to the running of a business was discussed at length at yesterday’s insurance awareness seminar organised by Business Assistance Fiji (BAF) in partnership with Tower Insurance Fiji.
“The objective of the seminar is to raise awareness to MSMEs on the importance of insuring your business as it reduces the uncertainty of
business losses caused by various risks such as fire, theft, flood,” said Business Link Pacific (BLP) service manager Deepak Prasad, who opened the seminar on behalf of BAF general manager Ramesh Chand.
“Most businesses are operational but they are not aware of the insurance policies that are around so for our insurance awareness, BAF has a
partnership with Tower Insurance because they have a new product called parametric insurance and they will highlights on how the businesses can adopt it,” he added.
Business Link Pacific, a New Zealand Government funded program that has been assisting businesses in Fiji and the Pacific region for the last five years.
In Fiji, it disburses grants through its in-country partner BAF, a private company funded by the government and owned by Fiji Women In Business, Fiji Chamber of Commerce & Trade, Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation and the Fiji Institute of Chartered Accountants.
“BAF basically helps businesses in Fiji in terms of getting financials prepared or giving them business advice. We have a list of approved service providers who are listed with BAF. If any business needs any type of assistance, BAF is there to help them,” said Mr Prasad.
For insurance awareness, BAF recently teamed up with Tower Insurance Fiji.
Tower Insurance Fiji manager partnership Josephine Ravai spoke to participants about the importance of insurance and products available to protect businesses from unforeseen loss.
“The Titanic sunk because of the iceberg, because of something underneath, not because of what’s on the surface. That’s what insurance is all about. You cover your interests, you cover your investments against unforeseen events,” said Ms Ravai.
“We have that mindset that nothing will happen. We need to change that to say that if there is a probability that something will happen, I have peace of mind because my business is covered by insurance. And if anything happens, I go to my insurance company and they will do everything for me.
“That’s being a proactive, smart business person. You protect what you have invested on, your funding, your time, your sacrifice and everything that you poured into that business, you need to protect it.”
The event was attended by around 16 owners of Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) in Suva.
