1,214 residents of Sigatoka receive Micro and Small Business Grants

1,214 residents of Sigatoka have received Micro and Small Business Grants to help boost or expand their businesses.

One of the happy 1,214 recipients was 34‑year‑old Tamani Leweni who was thankful to government for the boost to his small yaqona business.

Leweni said that many yaqona traders were selling low grade kava to the public and he was looking at setting the standard of Kava quality in Sigatoka.

While officiating at the grant disbursement, Minister for Industry and Trade, Faiyaz Koya Koya said government's vision was to ignite an entrepreneurial spirit in Fijians and was moved when they received a total number of 3,871 applications from Sigatoka and nearby areas.

He said that through the Micro and Small Business Grants programme, 22,145 micro and small entrepreneurs have been assisted, impacting the lives of 110,725 Fijians, with government investing $21.4M.

Koya also announced that government will continue to implement this program under the 2018/2019 financial year with a budget of $6.4M.