FIJI is targeting 40,000 new information and communications technology (ICT) jobs over the next five years as the Government accelerates its digital transformation and strengthens national cybersecurity.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Industries, Commerce, Business Development and Public Enterprises, Manoa Kamikamica, outlined the government’s digital ambitions while speaking at the Annual Fiji CyberSec Conference in Suva.
Kamikamica said the National Digital Strategy 2025–2030 sets out the government’s plans to expand digital services, improve connectivity and embed cybersecurity across public and private sector digital infrastructure.
The strategy targets 80 per cent online accessibility of Government services, 80 per cent digital inclusion and 50 per cent 5G coverage, alongside the creation of 40,000 ICT jobs.
He said the government was also progressing a national digital identity system and data protection legislation, which would support the wider digital transformation of government services.
“The digital future is very, very bright,” Kamikamica said.
“But we all have a responsibility to drive this industry, ensuring that it’s not only inclusive, but that it is secure.”
Kamikamica said Fiji was also positioning itself to attract greater investment in the ICT and cybersecurity sectors, including through the development of new digital infrastructure.
He highlighted Google’s planned USD$200 million investment in a data centre and operations centre at Natadola, saying improved connectivity would create opportunities for business process outsourcing, cybersecurity companies and other digital services.
Fiji’s business process outsourcing sector already employs about 8,000 people and generates around $300 million in foreign exchange, he said.
Kamikamica said the sector could become one of Fiji’s major economic contributors alongside tourism if the country continued investing in skills and its digital ecosystem.
Cybersecurity, he said, would remain central to the Government’s digital agenda, with Fiji working to strengthen its legal and institutional framework for tackling cybercrime.
He said Fiji had signed the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime and was advancing work on international cybercrime frameworks, including the Budapest Convention.
“These are not necessary policy gestures,” Kamikamica said, describing the measures as a signal that Fiji’s legal architecture would support the enforcement of cybercrime laws, the prosecution of offenders and cooperation on cross-border cybercrime.
He said government was also working to establish a national Computer Emergency Response Team and had undertaken extensive mapping of government services to determine priorities for digital rollout.
Kamikamica acknowledged that government could not address the country’s cybersecurity challenges alone and would need to work closely with the private sector and technical experts.
“Government can’t really do it, so it needs to reach out to private sector, needs to reach out to experts,” he said.
He said this cooperation would be critical to ensuring Fiji’s digital ambitions were matched by practical cybersecurity measures.
Kamikamica said the government was also working to digitise key public services, including business registration and approval processes, with further systems expected to be rolled out over the coming year.
He said Fiji’s digital transformation presented significant opportunities for economic growth but stressed that security and inclusion would need to remain at the centre of the country’s progress.
