Regional expansion of Fiji tested SME support model

Business Link Pacific (BLP) is looking at how success­ful initiatives implemented in Fiji can be replicated in other Pacific Island countries.

BLP director Steve Knapp re­vealed this in Lautoka on Wednes­day when local and international members visited the partner agen­cy, the Sugar Cane Growers Fund (SCGF) office.

BLP is a New Zealand Govern­ment-funded programme deliv­ered by Viti Global that supports small and medium-sized enter­prises (SMEs) across the Pacific.

Mr Knapp said Fiji had been part of the programme for several years. Over the past nine years, BLP initially focused on connect­ing small businesses to profes­sional advisory services such as accountants and marketing spe­cialists.

"When we surveyed businesses back then, they didn't use those kinds of services. If they needed support, they generally went to friends and family rather than professional service providers," he said.

"So, we're trying to connect them with people who can help them grow their businesses. As we saw these businesses starting to grow, we realised they also needed ac­cess to finance."

He said this led BLP to form part­nerships with banks and financial institutions such as SCGF to help small businesses access financing to expand.

Mr Knapp said the progress of the programme had been encour­aging.

"In the nine years since we start­ed, we have grown from working in Fiji and Vanuatu to operating in 10 Pacific Island countries," he said.

A two-day BLP Business Service Managers forum in Nadi ended on Friday.

"We've brought together all the business service managers from across the Pacific for a few days to share experiences, learn from each other and see how we can bet­ter support small businesses," Mr Knapp said.

"Nine years ago, when we started, small businesses struggled, especially during COVID-19. We were able to help them with small grants, access to finance and busi­ness support services, and we're now starting to see some of those businesses flourish."

A total of 12 business service managers from across the Pacific and seven representatives from New Zealand attended the work­shop.

Mr Knapp said one example of a successful initiative in Fiji was the translation of online business tools into the iTaukei language.

He said they launched the tools on Friday.

"It will be interesting to see how we can translate them into other local languages across the Pacific to make them more accessible to small businesses," he said.

SCGF manager lending and op­erations Sagar Dayal said many members still faced challenges ac­cessing financial assistance from lenders.

Farmer Jay Ram, who operates a nursery, acknowledged the part­nership between growers, SCGF, and Business Link Pacific in help­ing farmers grow their enterpris­es and become more sustainable.