Fiji is moving to align its micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) finance programmes with direct support for resource-owning communities, in an effort to address persistent barriers to capital, business skills and market access.
Addressing Parliament, Government reported that more than 800 registered cooperatives now hold combined assets exceeding FJ$132 million. New measures are being directed toward strengthening these community-based enterprises through equipment assistance, governance training, product development and support with regulatory compliance. The intention is to retain more income within landowning and resource-owning groups by helping them participate more effectively in commercial supply chains.
On the financial side, MSME Fiji continues to act as a central entry point for business advisory services and access-to-finance pathways, including grant schemes, loan referrals and digital payments onboarding. Agencies are working to streamline overlapping support programmes across agriculture, rural development and enterprise promotion, with a renewed focus on improving financial record-keeping and building bankable business proposals.
The broader economic context is supportive. Tourism recovery and a growing pipeline of infrastructure and services projects are creating new demand across supply chains. However, small firms and village-based businesses often lack working capital and market readiness, limiting their ability to scale and supply buyers consistently. Strengthening MSME capability is therefore seen as essential to ensuring more inclusive economic participation.
Banks and microfinance providers are expected to benefit from clearer programme design and better-prepared loan applicants, which can help reduce perceived credit risk and improve repayment outcomes. For resource owners, the shift emphasises turning land, fisheries and forestry advantages into sustainable income streams through improved governance and product quality.
Delivery remains the key challenge. Avoiding duplication between schemes and reducing administrative burdens on small operators will be essential. Targeted mentoring and continued consolidation of grant windows will also play a central role.
If momentum is maintained, the combined focus on enterprise finance and resource-owner capability could support a broader and more regionally distributed growth model, lifting local incomes and participation beyond major urban centres.
