Investment Fiji has recorded an increase in interest from investors in sectors such as tourism, real estate and BPO sectors with its chief executive officer being optimistic about further increase in the number of investors showing interest.
The organisation celebrated its one year as an investment and trade promotion agency with chief executive officer Kamal Chetty sharing the work carried out by the organisation in attracting investors to Fiji.
According to the 2023-2024 National Budget Supplement, in 2022, Investment Fiji had registered 104 projects with a proposed investment value of $241.0 million in tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale & retail and services sectors. Investment Fiji’s shift into its new role was a much-needed change to suit the global landscape and will allow the organisation to leverage Fiji in the global platform as an investment and trade destination.
Mr Chetty said the organisation worked a lot around investment and trade promotion, adding that the change had allowed his team to use their resources wisely and more effectively.
“We are now working more closely with investors and we are assisting them to start new business and keeping track of the projects,” Mr Chetty said.
He said rather than being reactive and waiting for investors to come to Investment Fiji, the team was now reaching out to investors both locally and internationally.
He said they not only focused on the economic impact of investment projects but also on the social benefits it would bring for the people.
Investment Fiji also noted a spike in interest for tourism investments since the Tourism Investment Summit held early this year.
“We have a number of plans to promote Fiji as an investment destination and we are also working to solve some of these ease of doing business-related issues.
There is a lot of interest to invest in Fiji and we are working to turn those projects into reality. And we are thankful to the government for the budget allocation to support our initiatives.
“Ease of doing business still remains a challenge and our role is to see if we can solve these challenges.”
