Agriculture is a key sector for a strong COVID-19 recovery.

These were the words of Pacific Island Forum Secretariat director programmes and initiatives Zarak Khan at the webinar conducted on Agriculture Finance and Investment by Pacific Trade Invest.

Mr Khan said the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat was proud to be supporting the efforts of Pacific Trade Invest New Zealand’s (PTI NZ) Trade Commissioner Ms Glynis Miller and her team to bring new sources of private sector capital to the Blue Pacific to help provide an array of solutions for a strong post COVID-19 recovery.

Trade Commissioner Glynis Miller said the webinar brought the parties to the table to offer their insights and recommendations through an investor lens to inform the Pacific on the intricacies of financing agriculture projects.

“With borders closed, restricting the movement of people across international borders PTI NZ has had to take a different, more innovative approach to optimise our investment mandate and in doing so we’re now more actively involved in connecting international investment funding models to the Blue Pacific,” she said.

Webinar objectives
1. Introduce IDH the world leading funder for small holder agricultural projects to the Pacific Islands for the first time

2. Provide insights of their business models, using case studies show Pacific Island smallholder farmers actual working examples of what IDH have done globally

3. Explain in detail IDH’s services in funding, intelligence, trading and how they could benefit smallholder farmers in the Pacific Islands

4. Explain what they would be looking for from governments, and smallholder farmers to deploy their services.

Ministry of Agriculture
Permanent Secretary for Agriculture Ritesh Dass said the webinar’s objective and concept dovetailed well to the Ministry objectives and strategic priorities highlighted in the Ministry’s five year strategic plan.

“It promotes and suggested approaches that the Ministry can capitalise on in terms of implementing and achievement of its key strategic priorities,” he said.

Feedback: shreya.kumar@fijisun.com.fj