There is opportunity to set up retirement villages in Fiji, says Minister for Economy and Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
While speaking at the Fiji College of General Practitioners seminar in Natadola on Sunday, he explained the natural ability of Fijians to care for the elderly.
“There is an enormous opportunity in the retirement village sector,” he said. “There are a lot of former Fijians with parents who want to come back and live their last days in the country of their birth,” he said.
“They would rather come here but nobody is going to invest in a retirement village if you don’t have full tertiary care facilities available.
“There is an ageing population in Japan and Australia and as people get older, they like warmer climates and we are naturally very good at looking after people.”
He said aged care facilities in the United States had been financially beneficial for Fijians for many years.
“There is actually quite a few thousand Fijians working in California, some legally, some illegally, in aged care facilities.
“There is actually a need for it.
“Some of them are getting paid $150 a day. A lot of people go there and they are highly sought after because a lot of Fijian people are good at doing that.
“In the same way, you go to most of the resorts and you see their kids clubs, its full most of the time because our people are good at looking after children but also elderly people.”
He added this was one of the reasons Government entered into a public-private partnership with Aspen Medical at the Lautoka Hospital.
