Kelera Ditaiki 
[Photo Credit: Fiji Government]
Fiji is taking a stronger global stance on disaster-resilient infrastructure as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Professor Biman Prasad met with Global Director of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Ramesh Subramaniam.
This was during the 2025 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings.
The meeting reinforced Fiji’s leadership in disaster risk financing and climate resilience, following the launch of the Fiji Disaster Risk Financing Report.
Professor Prasad said developing countries continue to lose close to 20 percent of annual infrastructure investment to disasters, a loss that demands urgent concessional and grant-based support from development partners and multilateral banks.
Subramaniam commended Fiji’s leadership and invited the Government to consider co-chairing the CDRI from next year.
Talks are also progressing to establish a CDRI regional office in Suva, which would position Fiji as a hub for resilience and infrastructure collaboration across the Pacific.
He said the Infrastructure Resilience and Island States (IRIS) program would open its next round of funding in November this year, creating new opportunities for Pacific nations to access financing for resilient infrastructure projects.
Professor Prasad will also hold high-level meetings with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and government representatives from New Zealand and the Netherlands to mobilise new funding for Fiji’s sustainable development agenda.
He is joined by Assistant Minister for the Office of the Prime Minister Sakiusa Tubuna, the Permanent Secretary for Finance and senior ministry officials.
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