As a country, it is good to have economic growth but also important to have more jobs created, more value adding jobs that gives better pay says Jone Usamate.

The Employment Minister said it was the aim of their new corporate plan.

Speaking at the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry/ HFC business forum in Nadi on Saturday, he said the corporate plan would be launched soon.

Their current vision, he added was decent and productive work.

But once the national corporate plan comes into being, Mr Usamate said that his ministry’s vision would be ‘decent work and employment generation’.

He said the issue of employment was one of the major problems that they faced and trying to find solutions was something they concentrated on.

“We want employment to be decent, in a sense they aren’t exploited, they should work in a safe environment,” Mr Usamate said.

He added they aim to create more job opportunities but it was the role of employers to provide good packages for their employees.

“This is something that cannot be done by the ministry because employment is created by employers, something we need focus on,” he said.

Mr Usamate said that productivity around the world had increased but it was only concentrated on a few hands.

He added that it was also a problem in Fiji which is why the current Government put more emphasises on the marginalised in society.

Mr Usamate also said they would develop a national employment policy which focuses on people earning low wages.

“It’s good to have economic growth, but what is important to have growth that puts money into the pockets of people so that they can spend money on family and friends; this is something we will focus more on,” he said.