The Business Link Pacific (BLP) Concessional Loans program with Sugar Cane Growers Fund has been implemented in May 2022 in its capacity as Managing Contractor of the Pacific SME Finance Facility Pilot program with Sugar Cane Growers Fund (SCGF).
The product has been continuously reviewed to meet the new demands from the sugar cane farming community. Initially, it was very specific to limited funding for ginger and a few of the other crops like turmeric, duruka, beekeeping and aquaculture, said Mr Sagar Dayal, Manager of Lending Operations of SCGF.
The Board of SCGF after consultation with BLP has revised the product, based on the cane production and growers can obtain loans for farm machines and implements. This may include tractors, trucks, modern machines such as boom prayers, and cane planters. This would allow the growers to work as contractors in the area, too said Mr Dayal.
Earlier this week (Monday 3rd June 2024) Mr Salacieli Navau Romulo of Nabalabala Village, Rarkiraki is the first farmer who has been granted a loan under the package. While receiving his tractor from Carmart Limited, Mr Romulo said that he was very proud and happy to receive the tractor. “It’s my birthday gift, and there is no tractor in the area, so I can also help other farmers”, said Mr Romulo. He thanked Sugar Cane Growers Fund and Business Link Pacific for making his dream come true.
Mr Deepak Prasad from Business Link Pacific expressed pride in their association with the Sugar Cane Growers Fund(SCGF) and their privilege in supporting the cane farming community. said that they are proud to be associated with SCGF and privileged to assist the farming community. He extended his congratulations to Mr. Romulo and highlighted that, in addition to BLP Loan scheme, Business Link Pacific through its in-country partner Business Assistance Fiji (BAF) continues to provide substantial support to entrepreneurs. This includes offering business advisory services, connecting Micro Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to Business Advisors, and subsidising the service fee. BAF also delivers training in areas such as financial management, bookkeeping, e-commerce, and digitalization. BAF further supports individuals in their start-up endeavours.
At the handover, Mr. Sachin Pillay of Carmart Limited Fiji said they were thrilled to extend heartfelt thanks to Mr Romulu for choosing their product. He also expressed his gratitude to SCGF and BLP.
The revised SCGF\BLP Loan package includes a 16% grant of the project cost and a subsidized interest rate of 5 percent per annum.
Authorized
Raj Sharma
Chief Executive Officer- SCGF