The Fiji Small and Medium Enterprises Business Owners Network is currently working on guidelines to formally establish the group as an organization that would deal with issues that affect SME owners in Fiji.

Founder Kim Beddoes says that unfortunately, SME owners in Fiji do not have a voice that would represent them on decisions and policymaking at the national level.

She says that the network is currently the largest collection of SME businesses in Fiji, with more than 630 members.

“Well, we need to formalize because small businesses employ 60% of Fiji’s workforce. So we are the backbone of the economy, and yet we have no voice. And that is nobody’s fault. We have never organized ourselves so that we can come together as one and create a formal organization that can speak on our behalf about issues that are affecting us on a day-to-day basis.’

She adds that the network is also working on collecting proper data and feedback that would assist decision-making at the national level, as Fiji currently does not have proper data for the SME sectors.

Another member, Mere Raboke, says that establishing an organization that looks after and represents SME owner voices would allow growth and better contribution.

The SME Owners Network is currently visiting 12 towns in Fiji, meeting, talking, and registering SME owners.

Meanwhile, the contribution of MSMEs to Fiji’s GDP is currently at 18 percent, and the government has indicated a goal to increase this to 25 percent.