MEMBERS of the New Zealand Fiji business council (NZFBC) gathered on Monday evening at Albert Park in Suva, following the launch of this year’s Fiji Business Mission.
The Fiji Business Mission is an annual event organised by NZFBC with the purpose of maintaining a link and communication between businesses in New Zealand and Fiji, through their sister organisation the Fiji New Zealand Business Council.
NZFBC president Chandar Sen said the main focus for this year’s mission is to meet the $2billion trade target that was agreed upon by Prime Ministers of Fiji and New Zealand last year.
“We don’t want to do aid. We want to do trade,” he said. “Our expectation is that we will meet that $2 billion New Zealand target as our two prime ministers agreed to last year.”
He said the $2b target was initially one aimed to be achieved this year but was put to a halt due to the pandemic.
“That was a target we had set some time back before COVID – $2b by 2025. COVID came and then put that to bed.
For this year’s mission, Mr Sen said there were 30 New Zealand businesses across various sectors who are in the country exploring opportunities.
“We have 30 delegates, across sectors, they’re from engineering, construction, IT, education, BPO, agriculture, etc.
“It’s not all about just investing, it’s about doing business with Fijian companies, for the Fijian people, buying Fijian products and making use of opportunities from both sides.”
New Zealand deputy Commissioner to Fiji Alex Shahryar-Davies said the New Zealand government works to support the council’s work in terms of achieving their targets and strengthening trade between the two countries.
The NZFBC Fiji business mission will wrap up on Friday and will involve business forums between local and New Zealand business, exploring investment opportunities through site visits across the country and potentially securing business and trade deals.
Note: This article was first published on the print version of the Fiji Times dated July 16, 2025
