Page 47 - IB April 2022

SPBD

SPBD’S OVALAU BRANCH OPEN

FOR BUSINESS

South Pacific Business Development (SPBD) Fiji has
opened its eighth branch in the old capital, Levuka.
Although it has been serving members on Ovalau since
2020 (with seed funding from the Rotary Club of Suva,
the Rotary Club of Downtown Auckland, Rotary Club of
Auckland and Rotary International) SPBD had to wait
patiently to open its office there due to COVID-19.
General Manager Elrico Munoz, hopes in 2022, SPBD
will work with 600 women on Ovalau and Moturiki, to
disperse $900,000 in loans.
SPBD Board Director, Lorraine Seeto told guests at the
opening, “Please consider this your office as well.” The
new office is well equipped, with a training room and tea
area, and is a short walk from the very centre of town.
The acting director iTaukei Affairs Board, Mosese
Nakoroi, was chief guest at the opening, which also
featured a shared meal and beautiful renditions of
Ovalau’s most famous songs from the SPBD members
present.
Nakoroi told guests, “Several studies reveal that by
hav ing access to some form of financial services, women
become more confi dent and more independent.
“They are receiving the recognition that they deserve
in their families, their communities and villages,” he
continued before cutting the ribbon to officially declare
SPBD’s Levuka branch open for business.

LAUNCHING THE SPBD MAGAZINE

During the opening of SPBD’s Levuka branch, SPBD Board Director
Lorraine Seeto launched the 2020 SPBD Magazine. “The magazine in
partnership with Islands Business captures our journey for the last 10
years. It has taken us awhile to come to this stage as we had the third
wave of COVID-19, lockdown and had to spend a lot of time looking
through our archives for photos. This magazine is mainly in pictorial
format. A picture tells a thousand stories and is worth a thousand words.
That is the message from the magazine.
“We hope that we captured the essence of our journey in Fiji. We
acknowledge our relationship with our sister organisations in Samoa,
Tonga, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The magazine also covers an impact
study of SPBD’s operations in the Pacific and acknowledges our 2020 SPBD PROVIDING
Businesswomen of the Year winners and finalists in the different categories. OPPORTUNITIES FOR
“We thank our generous sponsors - Courts, Vinod Patel and Home & A BETTER TOMORROW
Living, Fiji Development Bank, Reserve Bank of Fiji, Bank of South Pacific,
Westpac and Fiji Water - they made the project possible, and we look
forward to furthering our collaboration.” 2020
The magazine can be accessed online at www.islandsbusiness.com

Islands Business, April 2022 47