Fiji wants ‘better investment’, not just more money: Kamikamica

Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica has told Fiji’s business community that the goal is no longer simply attracting more foreign money, but attracting better investment that creates local jobs and keeps value in the country.

Speaking at the Fiji-Australia Business Council’s Joint Business Forum dinner at the Grand Pacific Hotel, Suva, last night, Mr Kamikamica said Fiji’s objective “should not simply be more investment. It should be better investment.”

He said this meant investment that builds local capability, transfers knowledge, strengthens supply chains and adds value locally over the long term.

The Minister for Industries, Commerce, Business Development and Public Enterprises pointed to tourism as proof of how deep the Fiji-Australia relationship already runs.

Fiji welcomed a record 986,367 visitors in 2025, with Australians making up 452,422 of those arrivals, or nearly 46 per cent of the total.

Mr Kamikamica said the International Monetary Fund estimates Fiji’s economy will grow 2.4 per cent this year and 2.7 per cent in 2027, but warned that energy prices and global tensions remain risks.

He said Fiji’s standard corporate tax rate is now 25 per cent, dropping to 15 per cent for companies listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange, but incentives alone would not make Fiji competitive without cutting business costs and improving Government services.

Fiji-Australia Business Council president Himen Chandra earlier used the dinner to mark the council’s 40th anniversary, tracing its founding to former Westpac manager James Huey in 1986.

Chandra said this year’s forum had drawn a record 200 delegates and 171 registered members, calling it one of the largest business gatherings in Fiji.

The forum continues at the Grand Pacific Hotel through tomorrow.

Feedback: kaneta.naimatau@fijisun.com.fj