His Excellency Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama
Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji
The Republic of Fiji has seen continuous advancement and proliferation in promoting access to ICT with support from His Excellency Prime Minister Bainimarama.
Acceptance remarks
The Fijian Ministry of Information has promoted projects to realize the goal of fostering a united Fiji through the use of ICT services. The country believes in “active citizenship, democracy and community life through information dissemination and study of archival records”. In line with this belief, the country has prioritized the transformation of government services from traditional paper-based services to web-based services for the benefit and ease of access to citizens. In April 2011, the first Government Data Centre was commissioned by Prime Minister Bainimarama, in which ICTs played the leading role – overseeing construction and the successful commissioning of the facility. The Fijian Government is currently developing an e-Commerce Bill to ensure that the interests of suppliers and consumers engaged in transactions over the net are adequately protected and to increase industry and trade within the country. Fiji has a well-developed submarine cable, which connects to Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Hawaii, and Vanuatu, and the Fijian Electricity Authority has signed an agreement to lease fibre optic cables to provide even faster Internet services to customers.
In recognition of outstanding leadership and initiative, it is our honour to present His Excellency Mr. Josaia Voreqe Mainimarama, Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, with the ICTs in Sustainable Development Award.
