Nissan recalls nearly 400,000 vehicles over braking system defect

Fiji ‘open for business’

LOCAL businesses should fight any perception that Fiji is nothing less than fully open for business, says Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. While speaking at the 2019 Prime Minister’s International Business Awards, Mr Bainimarama said current world rankings did not reflect the performance of local businesses. “Government is also taking bold action to uplift the business...

‘$1.4m worth of firecrackers sold’

JUST over $1.44 million worth of firecrackers were sold from January to October this year, according to statistics from the Fiji Revenue and Customs Services. And according to information captured through electronic fiscal device (EFD) sales, the figure marked a 42 per cent decrease when compared to EFD sales recorded for the same period last...

Airline boosts capacity

NATIONAL airline Fiji Airways CEO and managing director Andre Viljoen said the company went through a rigorous process to find a new aircraft that could increase passenger and cargo capacity. While speaking at the official handing over ceremony of the Airbus A350-900 wide bodied aircraft last Friday, he said their current find fitted the bill...

‘No return from sporting bodies’

NO sporting body including rugby union showed a reasonable return as most of them broke even and had a balance expenditure on the money coming in. This was revealed by the chairman of the Fiji National Sports Commission, Peter Mazey, at the Fiji Institute of Accountants symposium in Suva last week. “When looking through sports...

Cruise tourism

The cruise tourism industry has a lot of potential for Fiji to invest and garner more profit to the economy and sector as a whole. With the release of the Cruise Tourism for Economic Growth in Fiji study on November 5, in Suva, a wide range of areas were highlighted which needed focus to capitalise...

Tax online service training for agents

A NEW tax system will be implemented to make business easy for the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) and tax agents. A statement from the FRCS said tax agents were looking forward to the taxpayer online service (TPOS) portal. This is after tax agents attended a training session conducted by the FRCS in Suva...

Boeing brings back humans after automation problems on 777 assembly

(Reuters) – Boeing Co <BA.N> has scaled back use of automation to make fuselage sections for its 777 jetliners amid reports of reliability issues and returned to having mechanics do some of the work, the planemaker said on Thursday. The company began to build 777 fuselages in 2015 in an upright orientation, with robots drilling...

Facebook removes 3.2 billion fake accounts, millions of child abuse posts

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc <FB.O> removed 3.2 billion fake accounts between April and September this year, along with millions of posts depicting child abuse and suicide, according to its latest content moderation report released on Wednesday. That more than doubles the number of fake accounts taken down during the same period last year, when 1.55...

A design for Times

DESIGNING uniforms usually involves a lot of intricate planning to properly represent a company’s values to the public. Ilai Jikoiono was the designer behind The Fiji Times staff new uniforms which was launched during the company’s 150th anniversary celebrations this year. According to him, the new uniform reflected the company’s history with elements used from...

‘2018 good year for Post Fiji Ltd’

POST Fiji Ltd performed well in the year 2018 compared with the previous years, says the company’s head of finance Raiyaz Ahmed during the Postmasters Conference in Pacific Harbour yesterday. Mr Ahmed said 2015 and 2016 recorded huge losses for the company. “2017 we were just above the red line, 2018 I’d say we have...

FCOSS financial inclusion services reach 2000-plus Fijian women

SOME 2600 women entrepreneurs have accessed financial inclusion services at the Fiji Council of Social Services in over 15 years as part of its microfinance program. FCOSS national vice president and gender specialist Cema Bolabola revealed this while presenting at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Tripartite Training on Civil Society Engagement in Sydney, Australia, yesterday....

Minister Kumar urges focus on law and order

FIJI’S Minister for Industry, Trade, Tourism, and Housing and Community Development Premila Kumar challenged a panel discussion on housing and real estate pricing today to come up with a report to assist the housing industry in Fiji move forward from where it is today. The Minister made the call at a workshop on ‘Public perception...

Nawi Island development enters new stage

DEVELOPMENT works on Nawi Island in Savusavu have entered a new stage in its phase one with the completion of civil works. The construction of the marine will begin next week. This has also been signalled with the arrival of the Amity, the dredger which starts works this week. Senior government officials are expected to...

FNPF and EFL formalise data sharing deal

ENERGY Fiji Ltd (EFL) will now be providing employment data to the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) for compliance purposes and fund members’ benefit. This data sharing partnership was formalised in Suva yesterday via the signing of a memorandum of understanding between EFL and the FNPF. Under the MOU, EFL affiliates, preferred suppliers, principal suppliers,...

MOA to boost internet speed

A MAJOR mobile network company has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Immigration for a more secure and high-speed internet access. The MOA between Telecom Fiji Ltd and the Department of Immigration would allow all immigration offices in the country to be connected to the main internet server at the Department...

Company to review prices of services

POST Fiji is looking to review the prices of its services, says CEO Dr Anirudha Bansod. Dr Bansod said they were reviewing revenue they received from the different products and services offered by the organisation. “We have a wide range of products and a few of them is rather the mails, the EMS services, the...

Helping ride out global shocks

THE public and private investments could cooperatively assist the local economy ride out the global shocks. This was highlighted by Professor of School of Business University of New South Wales Satish Chand. He said the IMF had a downgraded growth of the global economy to 3 per cent in October which was the lowest since...

Aquaculture in climate fight

AQUACULTURE could be used to reduce and adapt to the effects of climate change in Fiji. These were the sentiments shared by the Minister for Fisheries Semi Koroilavesau who said aquaculture could be an alternative solution to the country’s production shortfalls. “Aquaculture is currently estimated to account for approximately 13 per cent, which is equivalent...

First fisheries, aquaculture training launched

THE first Certificate IV in Coastal Fisheries and Aquaculture Compliance face-to-face training session for the Pacific region was launched yesterday. According to the SPC co-ordinator of the PEUMP programs Project Management Unit (PMU), Martin Chong, marine resources was the backbone of the Pacific region’s economy. “Integrating and mainstreaming gender and human rights-based approaches across the...

Council owed $20m

RATEPAYERS owe about $20 million to the Suva City Council which was the highest amount across all municipalities, said Industry, Trade, Tourism, Local Government, Housing and Community Development Minister Premila Kumar after meeting with Lami Town Council yesterday. “We have established that about $1.8m is owed in rates, in business licences, in property rentals not...

McDonald’s workers sue over sexual harassment, ‘toxic’ work culture

(Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp <MCD.N> was sued on Tuesday by workers in Michigan who accused the fast-food chain of allowing pervasive sexual harassment to flourish at its restaurants nationwide. The proposed class action lawsuit filed in a Michigan state court accused McDonald’s of lacking policies to address sexual harassment, failing to train managers to prevent...

FNPF and EFL formalise information-sharing partnership

THE Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) and Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today formalising a partnership that will promote information sharing, for compliance purposes, and will benefit Fund members. Through the MoU, EFL will provide the FNPF with employment data captured from its data collection system; and it will be assessed...

Immigration and TFL sign agreement for secure high-speed internet access

THE Department of Immigration – under the Office of the Prime Minister – and Telecom Fiji recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the supply of more secure and high-speed dedicated internet access. A Government statement issued today stated the agreement would allow all immigration offices in the country to be connected to the...

Container control program unit

FIJI will be the first country in the Pacific to have a Container Control Program unit, according to a statement issued by the Fiji Revenue and Customs and Service (FRCS) yesterday. FRCS said this was a milestone achievement for the institution. “The CCP training will assist Customs officers and equip them with the right skills...

Cruise tourism rakes in $21m

EACH cruise ship brings in an average of $F305,000 ($US147,000) in spending per port of call with one cruise passenger generating $F90 ($US44) of spending each. This was according to the International Finance Corporation country manager Tom Jacobs who said cruise tourism contributed $US21.4 million directly to the Fijian economy and the flow on effect...

Boeing now says it expects 737 MAX to resume commercial service in January

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co said Monday it now expects its grounded 737 MAX to resume commercial service in January as it works to address questions from regulators over its documentation for revisions to the plane’s software. Boeing said it is possible that resumption of MAX deliveries to airline customers could begin in December and...

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