BUSINESS Assistance Fiji (BAF) and Business Link Pacific (BLP) is expecting a turnout of 300 participants for their annual micro, small and medium enterprise (MSMEs) conference at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort in Nadi on June 26-27.
This was announced at the event’s official launch at the Southern Cross Hotel in Suva yesterday.
The conference is expected to bring together not only MSMEs but development partners, government stakeholders, financial institutions and the private sector to address key challenges in the MSME sector, share insights and explore opportunities for sustainability and MSME growth in Fiji.
Highlighting on the theme of this year’s conference “Sustainable Tides: Connecting MSMEs for a circular economy” in his speech, permanent secretary for trade, cooperatives and MSME Shaheen Ali acknowledged BAF for creating a platform dedicated progressing MSMEs in Fiji.
“We are here to reaffirm our commitment to strengthening Fiji’s MSME through initiatives like this.
“This is very bold action with practical tools, financial tools, stronger commitment and support for them to deliver practical results,” Mr Ali said.
“This year’s conference builds on the success of last year’s event, the overall MSME conference and I have to give BAF a lot of credit for pulling that off” Mr Ali said.
He stressed that last year’s conference brought MSME agenda from the various areas of the economy in dialogue to help ignite reforms in the Government’s MSME agenda, noting that it reframed Governments approach towards the MSME sector.
“It brought MSME agenda to the center of our economic development dialogue and discourse in Ministries view, igniting reforms in our MSME agenda, reframing our approach and reinforcing the value of partnership across sectors of Government, NGOs and the private sector,” Mr Ali said.
The scheduled conference will feature platforms for dialogue, theme focus for MSMEs, capacity building, networking opportunities, showcasing of success stories, public-private sector collaboration, policy engagements and discussions around financing in the MSME sector.
Note: This article was first published on the print version of the Fiji Times dated May 10, 2025
