Out-dated laws are making women who own road-side sales outlets pay a lot more in municipal fees and licences, the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation told a regional workshop on trade and investment in Fiji.
“A woman who sells fish by the road side in Tarawa pays AUD$5 (US$3) a day to the Bairiki Town Council,” says Mereia Volavola, CEO of PIPSO.
“In a year she is charged AU$2, 000 (US$1,467).
“Similarly in Fiji, a woman who sells her garden produce by the road side in Suva pays a business licence of FJ$2000 (US$1,000) in one year to the Suva City Council. Yet an accounting agency is charged just about FJ$00 (US$250).
“The problem is because our laws and fees are way out dated. Our laws have not caught up with the reality that businesses can be operated online, via the internet.
“We have heard eloquent speeches from our politicians and leaders about assistance for women and small and medium enterprises. But these commitments do not translate to what's happening at ground level.
“We roll out the red carpet to foreign investors, this is well and good. But what are doing for our local women and local SMEs,” Volavola asked as delegates applauded enthusiastically.
The one and a half day workshop on the Pacific - US workshop on trade and investment ended at the Shangri-la Fijian Resort in Fiji Thursday.