PUBLIC CONSULTATION AT QILA SETTEMENT IN TAVEUNI - SUNDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2022

The Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights conducted public consultations on the Heritage Bill 2021 (Bill No. 3 of 2021) and the Investment Fiji Bill 2022 at Qila Settlement in Taveuni on Sunday, 20 February 2022.

The Heritage Bill 2021 (‘Bill’), aims to establish a Fiji Heritage Council, which would be responsible for advising the Minister responsible for Heritage on matters regarding:
• the recognition and management of places in Fiji, which have potential and actual world heritage values;
• Fiji’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention; and
• may also, among other things, develop policy direction to support Fiji’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention.

The Investment Fiji Bill is the result of the review of the investment framework in Fiji, including old laws such as the Foreign Investment Act 1999. In this review, changes were introduced, including the removal of Investment Fiji’s function to issue Foreign Investment Registration Certificates (‘FIRC’) and its power to conduct investigation and inspections, a realignment of the functions of Investment Fiji had to be conducted in order to complement the changes.

Therefore, the Investment Fiji Bill 2022 (‘Bill’) was introduced to realign the mandate and functions of Investment Fiji to that of a promotional agency, and which would enable Investment Fiji to move away from being a regulator of foreign investors in Fiji and to focus primarily on the role of being a promotional agency for attracting both foreign and domestic investors to invest in Fiji.