Press Release Detail

ADDRESS?

MINISTER FOR FISHERIES AND FORESTRY, HON. KALAVETI RAVU

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Hon. Ravu spoke at the cottage industry event on April 26, 2023 at FPTT, Nasinu.

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Vugalei District Representatives,

Managing Director for the Vision Investments Limited,
Forestry Industry Stakeholders, 
Invited Guests, and Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Good morning and a Bula Vinaka to you all.  

It’s a great pleasure to be here today - to celebrate this key milestones for the Ministry on the back of our Governments’ 100 day achievements.

I extend a warm welcome to key forestry stakeholders that are here for this event – your continued commitment to and investment in the forest community/industry is the reason for the empowerment and economic success that we are celebrating today. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, capitalising on emerging opportunities, deliv­ering services that are inclusive and impactful on the lives of all Fijians, and effective engagement and collaboration with partners is KEY to promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the forestry sector. 
The Government through the Ministry of Forestry is committed to Fiji’s National Development as highlighted in its 13-year Strategic Plan to “Improve the socio-economic impact of the For­est and its People”.

Forest Subsidy Assistance 

Ladies and Gentlemen, to provide you with a bit of background, 2015 saw to the birth of a Forest Subsidy initiative through the Ministry of Forestry’s Wood Utilisation Project. 

The project provides empowerment to landowners for the establishment of small forestry related business, to improve production and quality for existing small forestry related business, purchase tools, equipment and machinery for value adding required for a small forestry related business and training. 

The training component teaches participants to create value added products from harvesting and wood processing residues as an alternative resource to sustain them now and into the future.

Mahogany landowners from Sote, Savu and Naimasimasi village in the Vugalei district whose land is located in the Nukurua Forest Station are part of the skills training and empowerment of communities and individuals that the Ministry of Forestry is facilitating. I trust and hope that you have found these trainings useful. 

With the exception of the pandemic period, the Ministry of Forestry’s annual budget includes the forest subsidy allocation. The allocation demonstrates Government's commitment to ensuring that its development work is reflected in the lives of the people and communities it serves.

Government continues to promote the improved utilisa­tion of waste wood for high value products for the local and overseas niche markets. Since 2010, Gov­ernment has invested a total of $1.2 million dollars in the Wood Utilisa­tion Project with the objective of finding ways to maximise waste wood utilisation through value adding and downstream process­ing. 

Community Empowerment 

Fiji is a country rich in natural resources yet apart from logging, the landowners are not empowered on how to use this resource to support themselves. Through the training at the Ministry, women, youth and landowners are empowered to make use of residues from logging operations and timber processing facilities to ensure zero waste from harvesting. 

The growing travel and tourism industry has provided vast opportunities to lo­cal artisans and handicraft manu­facturers to produce commoditized products and sell them to local business and tourists who are willing to spend signifi­cantly on souvenirs and other craft items.

The Ministry of Forestry works closely with the Biosecurity Au­thority (BAF) to ensure that wood­en artifacts that are taken out of Fiji by tourists and locals alike are inspected for Non-Commercial Val­ue (NCV) which certifies that the product(s) are safe and free from harmful pests. 

Wood artisans and cottage industries empower forest-based communities to generate revenue and contribute to economic recovery while reducing waste from forests. 

Nineteen (19) young men and women from Sote, Savu and Naimasimasi Village will graduate today after completing a three-six months training programme with the Ministry. Congratulations to you all – I thank you for your determination to pursue this course of training and I guarantee that your patience and commitment is a living testament to the deep connections you have back home – with your forests and what it offers. The training is an investment in your future and that of your loved ones. 

The graduates will continue to engage with the Ministry for another one two years before operating their cottage businesses independently. With assistance from the Department of Cooperatives, the nineteen graduates have collectively registered a business called the Gaunavou Cooperative. Today, they will receive $30,000 worth of value adding equipment to assist with their wood crafting business.

Partnership 

Apart from providing participants with wood crafting skills, the Ministry also assists by securing markets for their products. The Department of Cooperatives likewise provides support with business registration, grants and marketing of products through branding and business training.

Today, I am happy to announce that we will also formalize a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Public Private Partnership between the Landowners, the Vision Group and key Government Agencies.

This means that wooden products from the cottage industries will be marketed and available for purchase from Courts Fiji Ltd – a subsidiary of the Vision Investments Ltd. Valid for one year, the MoU allows Courts to directly support the livelihoods of the village communities and will be renewed on an annual basis. 

Thank You very much Vision and Courts for the partnerships that have been forged and we trust and hope that this is only the beginning of many good times ahead of us. 

Moving Forward 

Ladies and Gentlemen, once again my sincere thanks to you all for joining us today. 

The impact of the Ministry’s Strategic Goal that I spoke about earlier is evident by the support that the Ministry provides in managing sustainable forest based economic activity with forest based indus­tries, increased participation of small forest enterprises and the empowerment of local communi­ties to create employment oppor­tunities. I thank You for turning out in numbers to experience this milestone achievement. 

Vinaka Vakalevu and thank You.