1. FIJI RUGBY UNION UNDER 20 TEAM PRESENTS ITAUTAU – The 28 member Fiji Rugby Union Under 20 squad today presented their traditional iTatau to Prime Minister Rear Admiral Voreqe Bainimarama.
2. MINISTER KUBUABOLA TO ATTEND NAM SUMMIT IN ALGERIA – Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola left the country today to attend a ministerial conference on Non Aligned Movement (NAM) in Algiers, the capital of Algeria.
3. LASELEVU VILLAGE COMMITS TO NEW DEVELOPMENT PLANS – The Laselevu village in Nagonenicolo district, Naitasiri province will witness new developments take shape to steer positive changes in the lives of women and children in this rural community.
4. TURKISH INVESTORS EYE FIJI – A delegation of Turkish businessmen made a visit to Fiji in April this year to explore business opportunities, which led to one of the visiting investors registering his business with Investment Fiji.
5. NFA RECEIVES FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT – National Fire Authority (NFA) received much needed Breathing Apparatus from the Fortitude Valley Rotary Club of Brisbane, Australia today at the NFA Head Quarters in Suva.
1. FIJI RUGBY UNION UNDER 20 TEAM PRESENTS ITAUTAU
The 28 member Fiji Rugby Union Under 20 squad today presented their traditional iTatau to Prime Minister Rear Admiral Voreqe Bainimarama.
The team is going to represent Fiji in New Zealand in June.
PM Bainimarama has encouraged the team to up their game in order to improve their ranking.
“Currently, you are ranked 11 in the world Under 20 rugby. Give all your best and get us back to the top six where you were in 2006 or even better get to the number one position,” PM Bainimarama said.
He told the Under 20 Fiji Rugby Union squad that they can only achieve that by improving on some mistakes of the past.
“I’ve always given all Fiji Rugby touring teams this advice, that is, to play according to the rules to avoid yellow cards,” PM Bainimarama said.
“This has been one of the biggest setbacks of Fijian rugby in the past giving away points through yellow card.”
The head of government also cautioned the team to avoid unnecessary individual play.
“Careless individual play has also been a setback for past Under 20 rugby teams. Play as a team and according to what your coach has advised,” he said.
PM Bainimarama also encouraged the team to give more personal commitment towards the sport.
“The whole of Fiji is behind you so please give all your best and bring back the victory for Fiji.”
Eighteen year old Nacanieli Ratuva from Rewa is optimistic the team can bring back glory to Fiji.
“The advice and motivation given to us by Prime Minister Bainimarama really motivated us and I can feel that we are capable of bringing back glory to everyone in Fiji,” Mr Ratuva said.
The team is being led by Coach Salimoni Ravouvou and managed by Nadroga’s Paula Biu.
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2. MINISTER KUBUABOLA TO ATTEND NAM SUMMIT IN ALGERIA
Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola left the country today to attend a ministerial conference on Non Aligned Movement (NAM) in Algiers, the capital of Algeria.
The three day meeting starting on Monday will allow NAM member nations to assess the situation and take necessary decisions to boost the action of the Non-Aligned Movement.
During this meeting, Ratu Inoke will be delivering a statement on behalf of the Fijian Government addressing issues on the recent development in the country as well as Fiji’s bilateral and multilateral relations.
The NAM, which comprises 120 nations and 20 observer countries, focuses mainly on issues relating to economic and social development, democracy, disarmament and peace.
Fiji joined the Non- Aligned Movement in 2011.
Ratu Inoke, when speaking during Fiji’s first NAM summit in Tehran, Iran last year, said that in an effort to build a better Fiji, “we have learnt that we should not be dismayed by those bigger powers that try to dictate to us how we should govern ourselves.”
Instead, Ratu Inoke said, countries should remain strong and fully engage with those that are more understanding towards their cause; those which truly respect the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference.
“This is the reason we find great value in being a member of the Movement. And this is the reason we believe that NAM could play a more prominent role in facilitating space for Joint Global Governance for its members,” he said in Tehran in August last year.
The NAM, founded in Belgrade, Serbia in 1961 by leaders from then Yugoslavia, India, Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia, is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc.
The NAM countries represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’ members and contain 55 per cent of the world population.
Membership is particularly concentrated in countries considered to be developing or part of the Third World.
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3. LASELEVU VILLAGE COMMITS TO NEW DEVELOPMENT PLANS
The Laselevu village in Nagonenicolo district, Naitasiri province will witness new developments take shape to steer positive changes in the lives of women and children in this rural community.
This after the Minister for Social Welfare, Women and Poverty Alleviation Dr Jiko Luveni visited Laselevu village yesterday to officially launch the Zero Tolerance Violence Free Community Campaign.
The village leaders were presented with a certificate of commitment by Dr Luveni, which marked the beginning of 8 to 10 months of awareness programs that will be undertaken by the Ministry and the Fiji Police Force in partnership with relevant stakeholders, such as Empower Pacific.
Laselevu Women’s Group has also secured financial assistance from Government amounting to $6000 for building a women’s centre and canteen to start new income generating projects.
In her opening address, Dr Luveni said that positive parenting and family bonding are key components of the awareness programs facilitated through the violence free campaign.
“A gatekeeping committee is formed, it comprises of male leaders, women and youth leaders who team up with the police and the ministry to provide an enabling environment for the communities and take appropriate measures to protect its women and children from all forms of violence and abuse. Apart from the awareness programs, the women groups are also assisted with income generating programs to increase the economic visibility of women.
“Women free from violence are confident and resourceful. When we empower women we are empowering their families and communities at large. To date, there are 70 communities who have joined this campaign and have noted significant decrease in the maltreatment of women and decrease in crime as well,” Dr Luveni emphasized.
Speaking on behalf of 40 women, Laselevu Women’s Group president, Taravina Tabua said that this campaign had opened up new opportunities for women to improve their livelihood.
“The Laselevu women struggle daily to support their families. Most of them are market vendors and they travel all the way to Suva to sell ota, dalo, tavioka and fish. Whilst they try to meet the needs of their families, they face many challenges and domestic violence is one of them. However, due to lack of information these women have rarely talked about it but through this campaign, the Laselevu women no longer have to suffer in silence,” Mrs Tabua said.
“We were enlightened to participate in the Gender Based Violence workshop few weeks ago. It was the first time for us to learn about the Domestic Violence Restraining Order and Child Welfare Decree. Given this information, the villagers are now well informed to take action against domestic violence, issues that were once never spoken about is now openly addressed even at village meetings, chaired by men.
“The women are overwhelmed to meet with the Minister for Women, Dr Luveni and it is through her visit here today we will see the much awaited projects like canteen and women centre come to reality,” Mrs Tabua added.
Similarly, Mr Waisea Ibeco, the village headman for Laselevu said that empowering women and children is a great investment for a progressive future.
“We are grateful to the Bainimarama Government for reaching out to us, especially, when we are located out here in a remote place and we find it difficult to get information. However, through Dr Luveni’s visit today we have learnt about the role of the ministry and also the vision of the Government as we head towards the September elections. We are determined to capitalize on the new collaboration made with the Government to build a vibrant and prosperous society,” Mr Ibeco said.
“The certificate presentation represents the long-term commitment by every member of this village to the vision of building a violence free community. I am glad to lead the gatekeepers committee, which is dedicated to protecting the women and children in Laselevu village.”
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4. TURKISH INVESTORS EYE FIJI
A delegation of Turkish businessmen made a visit to Fiji in April this year to explore business opportunities, which led to one of the visiting investors registering his business with Investment Fiji.
The President of the Turkish Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (TICCI) based in New Delhi, India in consultation with the Fiji High Commission in Delhi requested facilitation of a Turkish delegation of four businessmen to Fiji.
The visit, which took place from April 25-28, was with the view to explore business opportunities in Fiji.
Investment Fiji met with the delegation led by the president of the Turkish India Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Mr Ersin Karaoglan and three senior executives of the chamber namely Mr Turgut Sayali, Mr Ferhan Merter and Mr Mehmet Ali Seker.
The president and a senior executive member of the Suva Chamber of Commerce were also present to meet with the delegation.
The meeting led to informative and fruitful discussions in the area of trade, creating business networks towards further exploring investment opportunities with local business partners.
The group also showed interest in certain areas such as tourism for travel agent, education on exchange of student program and internship, manufacturing furniture, shoes, glass, construction materials and Information Communication Technology.
The team emphasized that they were here to build a bridge to work together with Fiji in order to attract Turkish investors to set up businesses in Fiji.
During the meeting, the delegation was informed of the investment registration processes and the incentives available to foreign investors setting up business in Fiji including tax free zone regions.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade presented a proposal to have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) either with Government to Government or Chamber to Chamber by identifying certain sectors and areas on which both countries could work together.
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5. NFA RECEIVES FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT
National Fire Authority (NFA) received much needed Breathing Apparatus from the Fortitude Valley Rotary Club of Brisbane, Australia today at the NFA Head Quarters in Suva.
Fortitude Valley Rotary Club donated the equipment which included Breathing Apparatus units complete with masks and oxygen cylinders as well as spare masks and cylinders for NFA’s fire-fighters.
Twenty sets of breathing apparatus, twenty spare masks and forty cylinders were donated by the Fortitude Valley Rotary Club.
NFA CEO John O’Connor thanked Fortitude Valley Rotary Club for their timely donation of the equipment.
“The equipment will greatly assist NFA in its fire-fighting operations because equipment is very important for effective aggressive fire-fighting,” Mr O’Connor said.
He said the equipment which includes the breathing apparatus and cylinders will be dispatched to all the fire stations to boost fire-fighting capability in all our stations.
“These are very specialized equipment which are very critical for fire-fighting as it will prevent our fire-fighters from the high risk of suffocation as a result of excessive exposure to chemical fumes and smoke during major fire-fighting and rescue operations,” Mr O’Connor said.
The equipment would have otherwise cost NFA more than $50,000.
The CEO said the donation would not have been possible without the efforts of Mr Phillip Pickersgill, a member of the Fortitude Valley Rotary Club and Managing Director of Banksia Scientific Company of Brisbane, Australia.
“He saw the need and initiated the donation of the equipment to NFA,” Mr O’Connor said.
Mr Pickersgill said they were happy to assist NFA with such specialized equipment because of the limited Breathing Apparatus units that NFA has.
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