ANNOUCEMENT OF THE FDB MARKET AND THE ADFIAP AWARD

STATEMENT BY FDB CEO, MR. DEVE TOGANIVALU AT THE ANNOUCEMENT

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, our valued clients, members of the FDB team, ladies and gentlemen. The reason for our gathering here today is two-fold. The first is to officially announce the inaugural FDB Market and secondly, to share with you, our recent win of an ADFIAP award.

Over the last 48 years, the bank has been a primary source of financing for the majority of businesses in the agriculture, microenterprise and SME sectors. We have also helped provide start up financing for many of Fiji’s iconic institutions – the Unit Trust of Fiji, Fiji Television Limited and Fijian Holdings Limited to name a few. We have also worked with and grown a number of Fiji’s major agro-processing entities such as Kai Ming agro-processors in Navua, Foods Pacific in Wailada Lami and the Fiji Dairy Limited formerly known as Rewa Dairy.

According to the Reserve Bank of Fiji, as at 30 June, 2013, FDB held an overall market share of 9.1% of Fiji’s total lending of $5.55bn. Of this, our financing to the agriculture sector was an outstanding 48% of the $98.60MM total provided in financing by all commercial banks and credit institutions in Fiji. This is an extraordinary achievement and shows the strong focus FDB has in helping support and grow our agriculture sector.

Given the strong relationship we have with the majority of farmers and agro-processors as well as other SMEs we thought that it was time that we brought these dynamic entities to a common place of gathering to showcase the diverse range of products that they have.he FDB Market is an initiative by the bank to celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and showcase the enormous agricultural and SME potential Fiji has. The people that will be exhibiting and selling at the market are clients of FDB.

On 15 March, 2014 the bank will host its inaugural FDB Market here at our head office car park. The market will start at 6am and conclude at 1pm on the day. The market will from hereon be held on the second Saturday of every month. Our clients are our priority when it comes to filling the market stalls. This market is to provide them a medium through which the Fijian people can see the possibilities there are in business, buy food and other items that are Fijian made as well as connect with these businesses to do further business. It will provide a synergy that is not seen at any other market being current held elsewhere in Fiji.

During the course of organising the market day, our customer relations and business development team met with a client that spoke about not being able to source enough chillies last year to make their chillie based products to meet the demand for the domestic and export markets simultaneously. A market place such as this can serve as a platform through which manufacturers and producers can also directly connect and make a business arrangement to supply a certain commodity at a desired quality and quantity over a contracted period of time.

Additionally, it is also anticipated that external markets – individuals and companies – will see what our clients are producing/processing/selling and create a direct source channel with them for future business. At the end of the day, we want to help keep Fijians at work.
For our first market, I am pleased to announce that we have:

• Kaiming Agro Processing who will bring down crystalised ginger;
• Ram Sami and Sons letting the sun shine in with their eggs;
• The Crab Company of Fiji. The whole of Fiji is excited about their farmed crabs after seeking Talk Business not too long ago;
• Tripacific Marine with their canned fish products;
• Foods Pacific with their range of ready to eat meals as well as Tiffin yogurt;
  Fiji Dairy Limited who will do yogurt tasting;

• Kaks Marketing with their range of cleaning chemicals;
• Nahari Electrical with a selection of white goods; as well as smaller businesses such as
• Crop and Soil Solutions with organic fertilisers; root crop farmer, Ajay Dutt; fruit and vegetable farmer Sireli Brown and pot plant enthusiast Anjna Deb who will bring her selection of fruits, vegetable and decorative seedlings for sale.

We’re all looking forward to your usual support and cooperation in making this event a great success. In our second announcement today, I am proud to advise that the bank was informed recently by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) that we had been adjudged winner in the Infrastructure Development Category (Category 4) for the 2014 ADFIAP Awards.The projects that we entered for this category were Fiji Broadcasting Commission, SUNERGISE Fiji Limited and the Fiji Sugar Corporation. The bank provided a total of $43.32MM to these three entities for their respective capital projects. The projects financed involved the following:

• In 2010, the bank financed the upgrading of FBC’s radio broadcasting services as well as the addition of its FBC television station.
• In 2012, under the bank’s sustainable energy financing facility (SEFF) we financed SUNERGISE’s Port Denarau Marina solar project as well as the Future Farms factory in Ba.
• In 2013, the bank approved financing to FSC for its cogeneration project. This project when it gets under way will not only help provide additional electricity to the FEA grid network in Vanua Levu but also help improve the revenue income stream for FSC through the sale of surplus energy.

The award itself will be presented on 24 April at the ADFIAP annual meeting, to be held in Moscow, Russia. The awards programme was initiated in 2002 as a means of recognising outstanding projects financed by member development financing institutions. Previous ADFIAP awards and honours received by FDB include the following:

• 2013 – Special Plaque of Merit for the social banking facility (SBF).
• 2011 – Co-winner of the Human Capital Development Category for Money Smart™.
• 2007 – Winner of the Local Economic Development category for the Momi Bay Resort and the Taunovo Bay Resort projects.
• 2005 – Special citation for Best Annual Report Award.

FDB thanks ADFIAP for this honour and our three clients for the quality projects that they have given us the privilege to finance.

Thank you.

* ADFIAP is the focal point of all development banks and other financial institutions engaged in the financing of development in the Asia-Pacific region. Its mission is to advance sustainable development through its members. Founded in 1976, ADFIAP currently has 131 member-institutions from 45 countries. The Fiji Development Bank has been a member of ADFIAP since its inception. We are also a founding member of ADFIAP.