The Fiji Chamber of Commerce and Employers Federation is advising members struggling to stay afloat to use the government’s $200m capital support for businesses.

Chief Executive, Kameli Batiweti says members in the Western Division are barely surviving and the Federation is helping fast track their applications to ensure they receive immediate relief.

“Many businesses are barely surviving and are doing a lot more to try and remain afloat while the borders remain closed. Fortunately, the recent budget that was announced by government for the period 2021-2022 has been favourable. For those that closed, it was an opportunity to take advantage of the incentive and initiatives that government offered and to press the restart button and get back on again.”

Fiji Chamber of Commerce President, Doctor Nur Bano Ali is also urging eligible Fijians to get vaccinated to help businesses flourish.

“If vaccination targets are achieved, we have a whole lot more chances of our economy opening up and that would be a further boost and we need all that.”

Small, Micro and Medium enterprises have been hit the hardest with some forced to close while others are struggling to remain operational.