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The Fijian Broadcasting Corporation has been commended for its progress in financial management, transparency, and digital transformation, following a heated debate in parliament on its 2018–2023 annual reports tabled by the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs.

FBC recorded a net profit of $555,000 in 2024, despite a 44 percent reduction in Public Service Broadcasting funding, and reduced its reliance on government funding from 42.6 percent in 2018 to 39.4 percent in 2024.

Assistant Minister for Public Enterprise Sachida Nand says that FBC’s ongoing modernization includes digital upgrades, a new outside broadcasting system, and a $3.8 million disaster resilience project supported by the Korean government.

“Technology plans, digital upgrades, and other major projects are captured within the technology department annual business plans and are integrated into the corporation’s strategic planning framework. FBC will further enhance these disclosures are in the next annual report to strengthen transparency and provide a clear overview of progress and strategic direction”

During the debate, former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister for Finance, Biman Prasad, rebuked the opposition’s claims and commended FBC’s turnaround.

He reminded the Opposition that the report that was being debated is mostly from their term in government.

“Let me begin first by reminding honorable colleagues in the opposition that when they talk about financial integrity, when they talk about transparency and accountability, just look at this report. We are looking at 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 report. This is precisely what they were using FBC for the entire time that they were in government.”

Prasad added that FBC is now operating in an environment of transparency and accountability, and Journalists are free to do their jobs, and that

freedom has allowed the company to grow its business and expand its reach.

He states that under the coalition government, advertising is now distributed fairly among all media outlets, ensuring a level playing field across Fiji’s media landscape.

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