Dr Taga Meets the Economics, Development, Trade and Investment Directorate of COMSEC

The Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Dr Raijeli Taga during her inaugural visit to the Commonwealth Secretariat headquarters in UK met with the Economics, Development, Trade and Investment officials.

The discussions highlighted programs supported by the Secretariat, including those relating to Debt, Trade, Investment and Economic development.

It highlighted the development of Fiji’s Diaspora Investment Strategy cascading from Fiji’s Diaspora Policy anticipated to be launched this year. This initiative will support the Investment Strategy and include the development of Fiji’s Diaspora Mapping, relevant Toolkits as well as the coordination of Capacity Building programs.

With Fiji being an active member on the Working Group on Trade and Investment it looks forward to the upcoming Commonwealth Investment Network Summit scheduled to be hosted in the margins of the Commonwealth Week.

Under the Trade and Investment program, Dr. Taga was updated on the work of the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda (CCA) with Fiji taking a lead role on Supply Side, Fisheries and Agriculture, Trade Cluster.

It was highlighted that given the current global scenario, Intra commonwealth trade cannot be more crucial, given that it is 16% less expensive; and projection is that it will reach 2 trillion by 2030.

The support to enhance Fiji’s Digital competitiveness, through E-commerce initiatives and launching of Fiji’s first MSME e-portal last year was among the issues acknowledged.

In conclusion, Dr Taga thanked the Commonwealth Secretariat for its ongoing cooperation through diverse programs supporting our national and regional initiatives.