‘We remain confident we can meet the challenge’

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says despite the odds stacked against us  “ we do not intend to give up on sugar cane in Fiji”.

“It is about continuing our program to modernise the industry, to embrace new technology to improve our yields and give us the information we need to make better planning decisions,” he said.

Speaking at the International Sugar Organisation (ISO) council meeting in London, he said it was about:

nContinuing our program of extracting as much sugar as possible from a single plant

nResilience to the threat posed to the industry by climate change.

n Constantly scanning the horizon for new markets and working as hard as we can as an industry to give those markets what they require.

He said the challenge for our industry in Fiji had never been greater, as our preferential access to the European market draws to a close in 2017.

“But we remain confident that we can meet that challenge as we continue to fast-track our capital projects to diversify our revenue streams.

“As Prime Minister and Minister for Sugar, I want to assure the 200,000 Fijians who depend on sugar that we are doing everything possible to give our industry the viable future it deserves – both in their interests and the interests of the nation as a whole.”