The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Co-operatives, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications Manoa Kamikamica announced today that the Net Fiji Spend attracted by Fiji’s Film and TV sector up to August 2023 has already doubled all of 2022 and is 2.3 times higher than the pre-pandemic’s best Net Spend attracted in 2019.

“Fiji’s audio-visual sector has been recovering steadily from the pandemic, and in 2023 it has reached an all-time best within the first 8 months of the year,” said DPM Kamikamica.

Film Fiji (statutory body in charge of the promotion and development of the AV sector in Fiji) has recorded for the first time a Net Fiji Spend of $71.3 million in 2023, and within the first 8 months of the year, attracting shows to Fiji with a Total Local Spend of $86 million and a Total Production Budget of over $236 million.

“This is an important accomplishment. It means that, despite spending a lot less attracting these major productions to Fiji, a lot more investment is now staying within our economy. The attention and commitment to the AV sector by Fiji’s Government is creating cascading positive economic impacts across the Fijian economy. We have heard firsthand from landowners, service providers, and hoteliers how this industry benefits them, which is why this is an important sector for the Government, and we will continue to support its development” said DPM Kamikamica.

Fiji continues to cement itself as one of the best Tropical locations in the world for film production. 2023 has seen major shows produced in Fiji being released in established Broadcast networks in the US like CBS and ABC, while also opening new markets in the online streaming sector with companies like Peacock TV (NBCUniversal) and Roku TV.