The North can contribute a lot in developing the micro finance and small business sector.

The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Fiji, Sada Reddy said that there is a lot that can be done to develop Micro finance as small businesses contributes around 17% of the country's GDP while the figure is around 60 to 80% in some asian countries.

Reddy while opening the Labasa 2010 Microfinance yesterday stressed that Northern Division has become a national priority in government's current development focus and there are many resources available there.

He said that with proper policies and support in place these resources can be harnessed to produce business opportunities and source of living for the people there.

He said that the Reserve Bank has been monitoring the developments in the northern division which is the reason why the Micro finance Expo has been organised there.

The Workshop has commercial cooking training which is open to school leavers, chefs and home based caterers as well as training workshop for women on making handicrafts using batik, bamboo and coconuts.

Reddy hopes that after the workshop on small business, the people of Labasa would be better informed about the financial services and small businesses will spring up resulting in improved living standards.

The Workshop ends today.


Story by: Sneh Chaudhry.