FDB Awards: Hard Work, Determination Behind Gopal’s Poultry Farm Win

Gopal’s Poultry Farm were recognised with two awards at the 52nd Fiji De­velopment Bank National Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) awards.

The Labasa-based farm scooped the Best Risk Managed business award sponsored by Sun Insurance and the main award, Na­tional SME of the year, sponsored by FDB .

The event was held at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva and underscores the FDB’s strong support for the sector.

Gopal’s were amongst 12 winners who were recognised for their innovativeness and dedication in their individual busi­nesses.

Entering into this industry eight years ago, Gopal’s Meena Goundar said she did not expect that her business would be what it is today.

Ms Goundar, a mother of two, had heard about the initiative by FDB and took it on her­self to apply.

Having started with only 200 chickens, she said it was hard work and sheer determina­tion that helped her through tough times.

“I started without any experience or knowledge in the poultry farm,” Ms Gound­ar said.

“I didn't know would come this far, I thought it only dealt with live stock.

“Little did I know that it would deal with management and also banking.”

Ms Goundar said she did not expect to win two awards.

Ms Goundar attributed the win to her fam­ily who have supported her in her journey since the establishment of the business.

“My family has been the backbone of the success of this business, we work to­gether as a family and we ensure that we achieve our targeted goals,” she said.

“This win was unexpected but we are hum­bled to be recognised tonight.”

While officiating the event, President Ma­jor General (retired) Jioji Konrote reminded the nominees that growth must be diverse and development should promote social eq­uity with environmental sustainability.

President Konrote applauded the FDB for their continuous promotion of this sector as a visionary platform.

He added the awards night is a platform to advocate on good business practises and the knowledge sharing capabilities in building green consciences.

“The FDB SMEs award is the building block of the work Fijian Government has set out to achieve in empowering knowledge sharing and capacity building,” he said.

“The winning businesses here today are those who have demonstrated innovative trades of businesses, shown evidence of success and those who have demonstrated acceptable banking methods.”

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