A former Fijian citizen has returned home to invest his hard earned money and cre­ate employment.

Papatoetoe, New Zealand, busi­nessman, Sulendra Raju, who grew up in Nawaka, Nadi, has invested close to $300,000 into two restau­rants in Nadi Town.

On Friday, Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum officiated at the All in One Builders Cakes and Fastfood at Mar­ket Road.

He congratulated Mr Raju for do­ing well in New Zealand and not forgotting about his homeland – to invest in the Fijian Economy.

Many Fijians are actually coming back to invest in restaurants and most buildings are undergoing re­furbishment.

“We welcome this investment not only from an economic perspective, from a financial perspective, but also from a societal perspective, be­cause it also goes to show these deep connections with Fiji that we want to nurture,” he said.

“It demonstrates to all of us that hard work always pays off. Perse­verance always pays off. Having a strong family background, and unit­ed, keeping a close family pays off.”

He added what actually paid off more was the ability to be generous.

“There are many people in this world who, once started doing well, they actually forget their roots. They forget the beginning, or they also become extremely money-fo­cused and become greedy and op­pose contributing to society.”

Mr Sayed-Khaiyum acknowledged Mr Raju who helped people whose building roofs blew off after being hit by a recent tornado.

“Mr Raju fixed those damaged homes for free and in a way, what he’s doing also is helping us in Fiji by opening up the restaurant is ac­tually creating jobs,” he said.

Mr Raju,47, said the primary aim of his investment was to give back to the community of Nadi.

“I just think about people when we were here. The reason is to know my staff here and give them opportuni­ties, giving them work. That makes me happy,” he said.

“Doing business here is basically nothing compared to what he does in New Zealand with his construc­tion company.

“There’ll be a lot of opportunities here. We are all one family. I thank the Attorney-General for the sup­port given by the Fijian Govern­ment in the investment,” he said.

Mr Raju was born in Savusavu, Momi, Nadroga and moved to Nawa­ka at an early age because his par­ents were vendors at the Nadi Mu­nicipal Market.

He moved to NZ in 1995 after he was granted work permit to pick fruits and in 2012 he set up his company All in One Builders where more than 80 staff are employed.

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