South Pacific Stock Exchange chief executive officer Krishi­ka Narayan knows one essen­tial of the role is above all others.

Because the buck stops at the CEO’s desk and the leader’s deci­sions spell business success or fail­ure.

Ms Narayan’s role as the CEO is to be in charge of executing the stra­tegic direction and steering opera­tions of the exchange.

The Exchange has a lot of im­portant events coming up that Ms Narayan explains below in an in­terview:

1. You assumed a number of senior roles and responsibilities, including acting as the CEO. How has taking such positions molded you to be­come the SPSE chief executive of­ficer?

It has given me the confidence to take decisions and lead an organi­sation of such stature. Having over nine years’ experience in the capi­tal market industry has also helped tremendously.

2.What are your current goals?

Increasing the visibility of SPSE as an investment platform for in­vestors and as a capital raising plat­form for public companies.

3.What are some of your future plans?

For the 2018 SPSE Annual Awards event, after firmly establishing itself as an all-inclusive and the signature event for the capital mar­ket last year, SPSE has once again launched the event for this year.

The 2018 Annual Awards will once again feature the two categories; Annual Report Awards and Grand Awards.

Under the Annual Report Awards, the main objective is to assess, evaluate and reward Annual Re­ports for both listed companies and unlisted organisations by focusing on design, presentation and content of the report and how best relevant information has been portrayed for ease of stakeholder understanding and referencing.

While the main objective of the Grand Awards is to recognise and reward our key stakeholders, such as the listed companies, stockbro­kers and investment advisers.

To add flavour to the list of prizes under the Grand Awards, this year the audience will see SPSE reward­ing two high school students on the national platform who had partici­pated in SPSE’s 2018 National Es­say Competition.

It is an initiative launched earlier this year to assist and inspire high school students to rise to the finan­cial skills challenge and build their confidence and knowledge about savings and investments about the stock market from an early age.

Tickets for the event are now on sale from the SPSE office and all those stock market enthusiasts, including current and potential investors as well as those business owners who are wishing to public­ly list their company on the stock market in future are invited to at­tend this event.

The 2020 World Exchange Con­gress (WEC) is an event that is an­ticipated to attract around 500 dele­gates from across 60 countries with specialists from all different sized stock exchanges around the world, from tier one, mid-tier to frontier markets.

The event provides an ideal back­drop for showcasing the best of Fijian hospitality, unique culture, Fiji’s capital markets, investment opportunities and Fiji as a tourist destination.

Hosting the event in Fiji will also help position SPSE as the preferred capital markets destination and fi­nancial markets hub of the South Pacific region.

This is a significant achievement for Fiji’s stock market and the overall capital markets.

4. Do you consider yourself a leader?

I consider myself more as a guide to my team.

You cannot lead without a team and if your team does not consid­er you as a team player.

5. What is the best advice you would give to young professionals to succeed?

Irrespective of your age, gender or creed, always strive to achieve the best, whether it be in work, family, education or some other area.

Discipline, hard work and a relentless commitment to excel­lence are essential ingredients for success.

It is equally important to find a career that you are passionate about and which allows you to de­velop and implement these ideals.

Feedback: maraia.vula@fijisun.com.fj