National ID legislation expected in Parliament

Fiji is preparing to introduce a National Identification (ID) system, with legislation expected to be presented to Parliament, says Minister for Industries, Commerce and Business Development Manoa Kamikamica.

Mr Kamikamica said the proposed National ID Bill was already being circulated within the Ministry of Communications.

He said the system would provide an important foundation for the Government’s planned digital transformation.

“We now have a National ID coming to our country. The law is already floating around in the Ministry of Communications,” he said.

He said the responsible Minister hoped to present the legislation to Parliament during its final sitting.

Mr Kamikamica said establishing the national identification system would create a platform for further digital government services.

He pointed to the growing availability of online services, including business registration, as an indication of the changes already taking place.

However, he acknowledged that some digital government projects remained works in progress.

He said the Government had hoped to automate the building permit approval process by now, but the work had not progressed as expected.

Mr Kamikamica said successfully digitising the process could reduce the time taken to approve building permits from two to three years to about six months.

He said this could help accelerate investment by reducing delays in the approval process.

The Minister said digital transformation was not simply a long-term policy ambition, but work that was already beginning to change how people and businesses interacted with the Government.