TOP Government and statutory bodies officials in Fiji will feature prominently as speakers at the upcoming 29th Australia-Fiji Business Forum scheduled for next week in the Gold Coast, Australia.
Confirmed so far on the first speaker carousel released by the Australia-Fiji Business Council (AFBC) is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Manoa Kamikamica who will deliver one of the two keynote addresses.
Also confirmed are:
– Minister for Agriculture and Waterways Tomasi Tunabuna to speak on growing Fiji’s agricultural exports;
– Fiji Airports’ Director of Projects Niranjwan Chettiar – engineering resilient infrastructure for Fiji;
– Investment Fiji chief executive Kamal Chetty – driving investment and export growth;
– and Outsource Fijiexecutive director Josefa Wivou – positioning Fiji as a global outsourcing hub.
According to the tentative program released earlier this week, other speakers from Fiji will include:
– DPM and Finance Minister Biman Prasad
– KPMG Fiji managing partner Lisa Apted
– Ministry of Public Works and Meterological Service PS Paula Baleilevuka
– Water Authority of Fiji chief executive Seru Soderberg
– Energy Fiji Ltd CEO Fatiaki Gibson
– Fiji Ports Corporation Ltd CEO Vajira Piyasna, and,
– Fiji Roads Authority acting CEO Apisai Ketenilagi.
The two-day forum will discuss topics such as supporting the growth of Fijian businesses, investment promotion, business process outsourcing, growing agricultural exports, infrastructure opportunities, bilateral trade and investment, digitalisation, green climate funding, and sports diplomacy and economic opportunities.
Fiji Australia Business Council (FABC) president Himen Chandra said a few of their board members would be attending the forum.
“We also have the opportunity to visit and see our counterparts in Australia – the Australian businesses that actually deal with Fiji, and how we can promote Fijian products, Fijian businesses into Fiji as well,” Mr Chandra said in an interview.
“We are well prepared. There’s a lot of dialogue which will happen between Australia and New Zealand, both from the government perspective and private sector perspective as well.
“The feedback from members is quite positive. We’ve got a few already registered out of Fiji, both from private sector and government.
“It’s normally a larger networking system out there and we are there to take advantage of what’s available out of Australia for Fiji,” Mr Chandra.
The joint forum will be held at Hilton Surfers Paradise Hotel from October 22-24.
—
Note: This article was first published under the headline: Fiji execs to feature in 29th AFBF in Page 22 of the print version of The Fiji Times dated Saturday, October 18, 2025
