The Small and Medium Enterprises of this country are the engines of our economy.

Those were words of the President Jioji Konrote at the Fiji Development Bank 2017 National Award for Small and Medium Enterprises.

Konrote says that the income generated from small and medium businesses and the jobs created contribute to the economic development of our nation.

The President says that this certainly contributes to rural development, poverty alleviation, empowerment of our youths and women, and the diversification of our agricultural, industrial and commercial sectors.

Konrote says that irrespective of the spheres of life we are all involved with, the overarching goal for us as a nation is to promote inclusivity, equality, resilience and sustainability, amongst other principles of good governance practices.

The Special Awards category recognizes Small and Medium Enterprises that have shown exceptional effort in progressing the Sustainable Development Goals locally

The categories include Rookie Youth Entrepreneur award, the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year and the Most Resilient Small and Medium Enterprise Post-TC Winston award.

The President also urged women to continue making changes in their community, be innovative and daring, grow your businesses to greater heights, not only for yourselves but for your future generations too.

A total of 13 Awards was given out whereby Deveh and Bharos farm received four awards including the 2017 National SME of the year.