Fijian athletes send remittance worth around $18.4 million per year to Fiji, underlining the im­portance of sports to the Fijian econ­omy.

This was revealed by the Minister for Youth and Sports, Parveen Bala while opening the ‘Keep Crime out of Sports’ seminar in Nadi yesterday.

Bala said the $18.4 million remittance was equivalent to 11 per cent of the country’s total remittances within a year.

Remittances have been the second largest foreign exchange earner for Fiji since 2004, behind only tourism.

“Stewart Withers, Richardson and Sewabu (2014) in a study found that Pa­cific athletes sent an estimated NZ$21.7 million (FJ$31.08m) per year in remit­tances, from New Zealand alone,” he said.

“In future, we would like to see a greater proportion of women among our professional sporting exports.

“And this will mean working closely with national stakeholders to replicate the pathways of excellence that we currently have in rugby union in Fiji.

“This economic x-factor adds to the wellness and health reasons for the Fiji Government’s committed and lead role in developing sports and empow­ering Fijians.”

Edited by Sheldon Chanel

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