Reserve Bank of Fiji Governor Ariff Ali says Fiji must create an environment where young people can become job creators rather than simply job seekers as the country looks to innovation to diversify its economy.
Speaking at the opening of the Fiji Innovation Hub Space yesterday, Ali said Fiji could not continue relying indefinitely on a narrow range of economic activities and needed to develop new sources of growth.
“We need to broaden the sources of economic growth and create more opportunities for our people. We need to diversify our economy,” Ali said.
He said technology was rapidly changing the economic and financial landscape, transforming how people save, borrow, invest, make payments and conduct business.
Ali said the Reserve Bank operated at an important intersection of the economy and could not operate separately from the broader changes taking place.
At the same time, he said Fiji continued to face fundamental economic challenges that required greater entrepreneurship, productivity and competitiveness.
“We need to encourage entrepreneurship. We need to develop new industries and new business models. We need to increase productivity and competitiveness,” he said.
Ali said innovation was no longer simply desirable but had become necessary for Fiji’s economic development.
A major motivation behind the Innovation Hub, he said, was creating greater opportunities for young Fijians to participate meaningfully in the economy.
“Every year, thousands of Fijians leave our schools and tertiary institutions with aspirations for a better future,” Ali said.
“We should, of course, continue creating good jobs. But we should also create an environment where our young people can become job creators, not just job seekers.”
Ali said this was the type of environment the new Fiji Innovation Hub Space was intended to help foster.
