Weleilakeba as the new Group Managing Director. Announcing the appointment under its new structure, the FHL Group Chairman Mr. Lyle Cupit, said that this move is the culmination of the FHL Group convergence strategy, which had been pursued since 2004. Explaining the rationale, Mr. Cupit said that the Group convergence strategy is underpinned by a shift from "passive" to a more "active" investment approach. "Under an increasingly competitive market, we need to actively manage and influence our Group performance", he said. Mr. Cupit said that the strategy is two-pronged. "First, we have to realise revenue synergies through collaborations and cost savings by combining areas of common services within the Group and second is to introduce an effective Group structure, which would allow FHL to influence and direct the Group's financial performance" he explained.

As the new Group Managing Director, Mr. Weleilakeba would be responsible for the setting and achievement of the Group Budget. Explaining the change, Mr. Weleilakeba said that the FHL Group would now have financial targets to achieve, which is fundamentally different from just consolidating individual subsidiaries' results. As part of the new structure, FHL has also made the following new appointments:

• Mr. Jaoji Koroi as the new Chief Executive Officer for Fijian Holdings Limited. Mr. Koroi would be accountable for the implementation of the strategies and achievement of the financial and operational targets for Fijian Holdings Limited, Fijian Holdings Trust Management Limited, FHL Securities Limited, and Fijian Property Trust Company Limited. He will also be directly responsible for the two unit trust products, Fijian Holdings Unit Trust and the Fijian Holdings Property Trust Fund.
• Mr. Pramesh Sharma as the new Chief Executive Officer for Merchant Finance & Investment Company Limited. Under his new role, Mr. Sharma would be fully accountable for the implementation of the strategic, financial, technical and operational functions of Merchant Finance.
• Mr. Barry Kay has been appointed as the General Manager for Clariti (South Pacific) Limited and will be responsible for all the strategic, operational and technical functions of the company.
• Ms. Ann Steele has been re-appointed as Fijian Holdings Group Human Resources Manager. Ms. Steele will be responsible for defining Fijian Holdings Group Human Resources strategies, policies, corporate responsibilities for employees, manpower requirements, succession planning and 'people capital' objectives for the short and long term.
• Ms. Finau Soqo has been appointed Manager Strategic Planning & Business Development. She has also been appointed Board Secretary for FHL. One of her key immediate roles is to facilitate the development of the FHL Group's Strategic Plan for FY08-10. Ms. Soqo has just rejoined the Group after successfully completing her Masters in Investment Banking & International Securities from the ICMA Centre, University of Reading in the UK as a Chevening scholar.

Mr. Cupit said that FHL is mindful of the need to appoint qualified and experienced persons to be responsible for these entities and is confident of the new appointees' capabilities to take on these responsibilities. "FHL is fully aware of its primary responsibility to ensure that properly qualified persons are appointed for the job, and where possible our staffs are given the first preference, a result of the many years of training and development that we have invested in," he said. The new postings take effect from July 01, 2006.

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For further information contact: Sitiveni Weleilakeba 3305017