PM Bainimarama’s Speech during Session 2: High Level Leaders Segment FAO Virtual SIDS Solution Forum

Excellencies, Sub – regional coordinator for the Pacific, Ms. Xiangjun Yao My fellow Pacific leaders,

Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.

Digital innovation can be a powerful driver of sustainable development and Fiji’s experience has shown how the digital revolution can have an outsized benefit for Small Island Developing States.

Our nation has evolved over the years in terms of its demography, economic and social development, its institutions and governance.

Our economy has almost doubled in the last 10 years, with real per capita incomes rising every year.

Trade flows have increased, and investment levels are also growing.

Technological advancements have been made on many fronts, and the country is digitally connected.

We have no doubt that our economy will recapture its robust momentum once this pandemic is behind us.

Many factors are in our favour. We are a young nation, with around 62 percent of our population below the age of 34.

Our infrastructure and institutions are improving, our young people are engaged and optimistic, we have been extending digital connectivity across our many islands and rural communities, we have a strong standing in the international arena, and we enjoy inherent geographical and environmental advantages for trade, transportation and communications.

There is no discounting the brutal economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has set back years of sustainable development progress.

But we are resetting course to 2030 by readjusting Fiji’s 5 Year & 20 Year National Development Plans –– both of which we formulated well before the pandemic –– to strategically guide our recovery.

The Plan consists of two prongs or approaches: “Inclusive Socio-economic Development” and “Transformational Strategic Thrusts”. These prongs are mutually inclusive and reinforcing. I would like to focus now on the second approach – Transformational Strategic Thrusts. These are game-changing, forward-looking policy shifts to expand our development frontier and support the vision of transforming Fiji.

We will nurture new and emerging growth sectors, improve connectivity within our borders and to the wider world, embrace new technologies, maximize productivity, and accelerate the development of our human capital. And green growth will be a key guiding principle in the implementation of this Plan.

Fiji’s agriculture sector is focused on improving food and nutrition security by ensuring increased local production, raising farm efficiency and productivity, and developing more effective distribution systems.

New technology, mechanization and better production practices are being adopted rapidly in the sector to ensure that we have better systems to distribute agricultural information, effective market linkages and improved arrangement for effective public-sector support.

We are also supporting commercial-scale production to achieve greater economies of scale, promote organic farming, encourage the production of traditional crops and help develop niche agricultural and fisheries products. To protect that progress, we are adopting climate-resilient varieties to ensure environmental sustainability.

Fiji will continue to work on improving digital connectivity in the agricultural sector, as in the country as a whole, through universal access to high-speed internet networks and broadband, until all areas of Fiji are digitally connected.

We are encouraging competition among broadband internet service providers by making communication infrastructure available to multiple users under reasonable terms and conditions. We are building a nationally-connected network of telecentres and making steady gains in digital literacy. On that bedrock of connectivity, we’re creating new opportunities in employment for Fijians living in all parts of the country, including in IT support services.

We will continue to embrace new technology and invest infrastructure that keeps Fiji on the cutting edge of sustainable development.

We’re excited about innovation in cloud computing, 3D printing, inter-networking of smart devices and other emerging technologies that hold the potential to improve efficiency and productivity across the Fijian economy. For agriculture, government will further explore mechanized land preparation and harvesting, modern seed-breeding methods, and hydroponic and greenhouse farming techniques to address the issues of poor soil fertility, declining farm productivity and intermittent local supply.

We are digitizing as many government services as possible. E-Government platforms are speeding up approvals processes, business registration, land use administration, taxation, and other services. And ICT-based planning, data collection, monitoring and evaluation have been improved in most organizations in the public sector through the use of Computer Assisted Personal Interview System to enhance processes, productivity and service delivery.

The digital revolution has been a godsend to us, as it has for many other nations. Digital technology allows us to connect people over huge distances and expanses of ocean in real time.

It allows us to bring government services right to people’s homes and workplaces, no matter where they are. It gives every Fijian easy access to information available around the world.

It is a boon to education, business, finance, government and agriculture. And it will be an important tool as we move steadily to a greener and more sustainable future. We look forward to sharing the lessons of our experience and drawing from the pool of knowledge and experience that emerges from this Forum.

Vinaka Vakalevu. Thank you