Hari Punja
Overview
 
Mr. Hari Punja is a businessman
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...

 and Chairman of Hari Punja Group of Companies. Hari Punja and Sons Limited is a very diversified (and probably the largest) company in Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

.
Mr. Hari Punja was born in Cuvu, Sigatoka
Sigatoka
For the banana disease, see Black sigatoka.Sigatoka is a town in Fiji. It is found on the island of Viti Levu and is situated at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, after which it is named, some 69 kilometers from Nadi. In Fiji's last census the population of Sigatoka was at 9622...

, Fiji and received his education in Fiji and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. He is a chemical engineer
Chemical engineer
In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is the profession in which one works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products, and deals with the design and operation of plants and equipment to perform such work...

. Mr. Hari Punja joined the business in 1960. He has served as a mayor of Lautoka
Lautoka
Lautoka is the second largest city of Fiji and the second largest in the South Pacific. It is in the west of the island of Viti Levu, 24 kilometres north of Nadi, and is the second port of entry in Fiji, after Suva. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane growing region, it is known as the Sugar...

 and on a number of prestigious boards such as Fiji Broadcasting Commission
Fiji Broadcasting Corporation
The Fiji Broadcasting Corporation is one of the two radio broadcasters in Fiji. It was known as Fiji Broadcasting Commission when it began. It traces its history back to 1935 when it first began operating under licence from the Posts and Telegraphs Department with the call sign ZJV. At the end of...

 and Fiji Sugar Corporation
Fiji Sugar Corporation
Fiji Sugar Corporation is the Government-owned sugar milling company in Fiji having the monopoly on production of all raw sugar in Fiji. It is also the largest public enterprise in Fiji directly employing nearly 3000 people while another 200,000 or more depend on it for their livelihood in rural...

.
Quotations

"I think that we (Indo-Fijian|Indo-Fijians) have a great future in this country if we can grab the opportunities that are ahead of us."

"Indo-Fijians have a good future in Fiji but unfortunately they are being ill-advised, their community leaders lack good leadership."

"I went to a Harvard seminar in Sydney recently and the name of the seminar was 'Family businesses: successes and pitfalls'. The lecturer there said a typical family business is one where the founder starts it, the second generation builds it up and the third generation blows it up. Now there is a lot of truth in that."

"In business I believe the idea is to look for opportunities and if you do what others are doing you will never succeed."

"I like to look for hard entries. If the entry level is easy then everybody comes in and competes with you and the country has no shortage of copycats."

 
x
OK