SPEECH AT THE NATIONAL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS AWARDS

Holiday Inn Hotel Wednesday
Suva 21 June 2017

Honourable Ministers
Permanent Secretaries
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Award Nominees and family members
Our partners from the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation
Distinguished Guests

Good evening and Bula vinaka to you all.

Thank you all for accepting our invitation to attend this inaugural event as we seek to promote young entrepreneurs and businesspeople in our economy. ‘Dream big, Make it Happen’ and here this evening, it is happening.

I wish to acknowledge of our Youth Entrepreneurs who have made it from the Divisions. Tonight’s event is dedicated to you, in recognition of your entrepreneurial efforts. The Ministry, in partnership with the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation, made a commitment to host this Awards to encourage and reward entrepreneurship among youths in Fiji.

Tonight, we recognise these youths who have pursued their dreams and become successful – despite their challenges and scarce resources. We wish to reward their achievements and hopefully help them progress to the next level. Tonight, we celebrate your successes and reward those who have achieved their dreams and hopefully through their stories, to inspire more young Fijians to pursue entrepreneurship.

Tonight we will reward three major categories, namely the:
• Best Male Entrepreneur
• Best Female Entrepreneur; and
• Best Youth Group.

These winners will be rewarded with $10,000 each. The Ministry envisages that these rewards will boost their small businesses and take them to the next exciting level.

The Ministry is planning to have this as an annual event. We will be delighted to strengthen our partnership with the private sector in this initiative – from the planning to the final stages. We need to work together to promote diligence, good governance, transparency and best practice as we design the next bigger and better event for 2018.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the global youth population is the largest in history. Of the world’s 3 billion people estimated to be under the age of 25, approximately 1.3 billion young people are between the ages of 15 and 24, making up a quarter of the world’s working population, but representing half of the world’s unemployed.

This is alarming. In 2015, unemployed young people between 12-24 years stood at 18.2%, 4.6 times higher of that of older adults. Government is aware that the transition from school to decent jobs is a major challenge for many young people in Fiji, particularly for those who drop out of the formal school system. According to the Ministry of Education, approximately 9,000 young people do not make it from year 8 to year 13. In 2016, approximately 48,000 people were registered with the National Employment Center (NEC), the majority presumably youth.

The Ministry, with the ILO, is in the process of reviewing the ‘Know About Business Program’ to help young people take and active interest in entrepreneurship and self-employment. Helping young people to earn a living through entrepreneurship can make a crucial contribution to reducing poverty.

I would like to thank our panel of judges from organisations including FDB, RBF, Investment Fiji, NCSMED and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. They all promote entrepreneurship and we look forward to working with you as we continue to develop these Awards.

The Ministry and Government are keen to see more entrepreneurs sprout across parts of Fiji to become job creators. We work with all youth in all areas from all backgrounds. We will particularly focus on youth entrepreneurship for women and persons with disabilities.

I congratulate all Awardees and this is your night. You are an example to your peers and I look forward to joining hands with you to promote entrepreneurship in all corners of our beloved country.

Vinaka vakalevu, Dhanyavad, Shokran and thank you all very much.