More than $4 million has been channelled to Fijian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) over the past five years, the Finance Minister Esrom Emmanuel said as he handed out 14 grants totalling $900,000 at a distribution event in Lautoka yesterday. Emmanuel told recipients the funds — disbursed under the Integrated Human Resources Development (IHRD) and Cooperatives Development Fund (CDF) programmes — were focused largely in the Western Division, with substantial investment in Ba Province.
“This is not a handout, it is a hand‑up,” Emmanuel said, urging grant recipients to show ownership by contributing their own resources. He said the ministry’s model requires applicants to provide a one‑third contribution to projects, and where necessary financial institutions are brought in to co‑finance expansions. “When you put your own resources into your projects, you show ownership, commitment and confidence — and that is what drives lasting success,” he added.
Emmanuel said the ministry has invested more than $900,000 in grants through recent rounds and that within Ba Province the government has invested in excess of $470,000 through MSME programmes. He framed the funding as part of a deliberate co‑investment approach aimed at strengthening small businesses in agriculture and tourism — sectors he described as “key pillars of our economic growth” for the region.
The Lautoka distribution is the latest visible rollout of a broader MSME assistance drive. Earlier reporting from the Ministry of Trade, Co‑operatives, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications indicated that 1,016 applications had been approved for assistance amounting to $4 million in the current financial year, out of 1,520 applications seeking nearly $6.4 million. Those approvals covered a wide range of sectors including eco‑tourism, manufacturing, forestry, ICT and services.
Emmanuel stressed that the shared funding model is meant to build long‑term resilience rather than create dependency. “This co‑investment model recognises that real development is done with communities, not for communities,” he said, noting that beneficiary commitment helps attract commercial lenders and sustain business growth beyond the initial grant.
Local leaders and MSME operators at the Lautoka event said the grants will be used for a mix of equipment purchases, processing upgrades and tourism service improvements. Officials hope the visible support in Ba and surrounding areas will catalyse economic activity ahead of the coming season and encourage wider uptake of the IHRD and CDF programmes by rural and urban small businesses.
The minister’s announcement clarifies how government assistance is being targeted and financed as Fiji seeks to boost livelihoods through grassroots enterprise development. By setting out both cumulative disbursements over five years and specific provincial allocations, the government is signalling an intensified emphasis on regionally concentrated support and partnership with private finance to scale promising MSMEs.