Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum

Sayed-Khaiyum led the finalisation of the 2013 Fijian Constitution which established common and equal Fijian citizenry and an equally weighted voting system.[12]

In the lead-up to the 2014 general election, Sayed-Khaiyum helped to implement a new system of electronic voter registration, shape Fiji's new political party and electoral laws and attract international assistance.

As the Minister for Economy, he raised the income tax threshold from $16,000 to $30,000 and has progressively increased Fiji's minimum wage.[13] Fiji is currently experiencing its lowest unemployment rate in 15 years,[14] and the country's economy has recorded an unprecedented ten consecutive years of growth.[15]

Sayed-Khaiyum is currently overseeing a programme of civil service reform within the Fijian Government to promote merit-based recruitment and advancement.[16]

As Minister responsible for climate change and the leader of Fiji's COP23 delegation, the Attorney-General is also a global proponent of climate adaptation and increasing access to climate finance, and is working with governments, multilateral organisations and development banks to allow countries such as Fiji to obtain adequate levels of funding—on the basis of vulnerability—to build their resilience to climate change. At the COP23 negotiations, where Fiji served as president, parties agreed that the Adaptation Fund would serve the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Fund was replenished with an impressive total of US$93.3 million.[17]

In Fiji, Sayed-Khaiyum spearheaded the creation of the climate change division in the Ministry of Economy to mainstream the critical issue in national planning and public financing decisions, making Fiji one of the few countries in the world where climate change sits with the ministry responsible for finance.[18] He has also established a working group in the Office of the Attorney-General to examine peripheral legal issues related to climate change.[19]

During his tenure as Minister for Communications, Fiji has experienced a boom in access to high speed internet services and Free-to-Air digital television, which is now available all throughout the geographically-remote nation.[20]

Sayed-Khaiyum is overseeing the Fijian Government's digital transformation programme to digitise government services through a flagship partnership with the Singaporean Cooperation Enterprise, digitalFIJI.[21]