The rural areas is home to about 52 percent of Fiji's population, and has the greatest potential for future development and prosperity.

Reserve Bank Governor Sada Reddy while speaking at the opening of the Fiji Indigenous Business Council Symposium yesterday stressed to the members to take advantage of this as most of Fiji's key exports are rural based.

Reddy called on the members of the FIBC to consider product diversification and that they should look for new and perhaps, niche business opportunities and consider moving up the value chain by adding value to their current products.

Reddy stressed that if one business is currently providing tours for tourists, then they should explore going into budget accommodation.

If one is producing timber to consider converting them into furniture or other finished products, and if the local market is saturated then they should consider exporting their goods and services.

Reddy emphasised that small businesses only remain small if they do not have a vision for getting bigger, and challenged the FBIC  to form a vision of where they want their business to be in 5 to 10 years from now.

He called on the Council to ensure that indigenous businesses are aware of the initiatives that the Reserve Bank is working on to promote small and micro enterprise development so that they benefit from them.