Welcome everyone to the Fiji Development Bank’s 6th Annual Small Business Awards!

It is great to see an enthused and interesting mix of sponsors, stakeholders and participants here at the Forum Secretariat Fale this evening.

The Chief Guest, Dr. Nur Bano Ali, president of the Suva Chamber of Commerce, president of Women in Business and managing partner of aliz pacific.

A very warm welcome to our chief guest Dr Nur BanoAli, a familiar face and personality to many of us.

Dr Ali, your presence here this evening is heartening and a testament to your continued support for small business, particularly businesses run by women. I think you will also be pleased to know that the number of entries we had from women running small businesses for this round of the Awards numbered 10 out of the 28 entries received.

I extend a warm welcome also our valued sponsors for this year’s Awards - FINTEL, Connect, Crest Chicken, the Reserve Bank of Fiji, New India Assurance and the Fiji Sun. Your response to our call for sponsorship is indeed appreciated and valued.

A very good evening, namaste and ni sa bula also to our small business entrants, invited guests and members of the media.

This is the sixth year that the Fiji Development Bank has held the Small Business Awards. Small businesses are often overlooked in terms of the overall contribution it makes to the economy.

At FDB, we concentrate our business in what we call the Focused Sector, areas where Government believes, when developed, will provide economic growth.

These sectors are: Agriculture, Forestry & Fishery; Mining & Quarrying; Manufacturing; Transport, Communications & Storage; and Small Medium Enterprises such as Wholesale/Retail, Hotels and Restaurants as well as the Professional and Business Service Sectors.

The Small Business Awards seeks to provide an inducement for those starting out in this sectors, so that they are impelled to reach for greater things, hence the theme that we selected for 2009 – Start Small. Think Big! Everyone has to start somewhere.

As a development banker, we recognize that without small businesses, Fiji would see a much higher rate of unemployment, poverty reaching astonishing levels and affordability of basic goods and services beyond the reach of the ordinary person.

And as a development banker, you can be assured that we will continue to do all we can to continue financial support for small businesses through our various lending facilities.

Small businesses may not be able to compete with the larger businesses in terms of turnover but, they can be as competitive and creative in terms of how they conduct their business.

To all small business owners, as an incentive know that big businesses weren’t always big, every single one of them started out small but through hard work, good financial management, perseverance and sacrifice, they grew into what they are today – that’s starting small, and thinking big. You can be a big business too someday.

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we give due recognition to those small businesses that have the potential to succeed. To the winners, the prize money that you will receive tonight, just may be the working capital that you need to get you to the next level. Use it wisely and our best wishes for your continued success.

Welcome once again and please do enjoy the rest of your evening.

Thank you.