Caption:Attorney-General & Minister for Public Enterprises, Hon Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum with the Permanent Secretary for Public Enterprises, Mr Shaheen Ali, & ADB Officials.Photo:SUPPLIED.
A strong member and specialist delegation from the Asian Development Bank (‘ADB’) met with the Attorney-General and Minister for Public Enterprises, Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum on Thursday morning – 29 January 2015 – including, the Permanent Secretary for Public Enterprises, Mr Shaheen Ali and other Government officials.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said that the meeting with the senior and specialist team of the ADB was not only indicative of the renewed engagement between the Fijian Government and ADB but also gave the opportunity to discuss the technical assistance ADB can provide with respect to the divestment of government shares in various State Owned Enterprises as announced in the 2015 Budget.
“Contrary to the claims of our opponents, we have a credible and detailed plan – already well advanced – to extract the maximum benefit from these assets for the Fijian people. They are the ultimate stakeholders and with this partnership with the ADB and with other institutions such as World Bank and International Finance Corporation, every Fijian can be assured that the divestment process will be carried out to international best practice and provide maximum economic benefits for Fiji and all Fijians,” he said.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said that they also had discussions in respect of updating laws pertaining to public enterprises.
“We have had this reform on our radar and we have carried some preliminary work in this respect and now with the full engagement, we hope to have legal reforms implemented at the soonest.Of course, it is not just about changing specific laws but to provide the right and conducive environment. For example, the RBF will soon be putting in place a Secured Transactions Reform Taskforce which essentially will look at improving the legal framework for using moveable property as collateral for loans,” he said.
It is expected that the specialist ADB team will again meet the Public Enterprise officials tomorrow and a tri-lateral meeting will be held subsequently between the Fijian Government, ADB and World Bank/ International Financial Corporation.
DEPTFO