Straw-Hat, a Fiji-based sustainability consultancy, relies on cross-border digital tools to support MSMEs and connect to international clients. If the WTO e-commerce Moratorium were to lapse – meaning customs duties on electronic transmissions could be introduced – higher digital transaction costs could weaken the competitiveness of smaller Pacific island firms, says Straw-Hat Co-founder Sagufta Janif. The impact, she warns, would impact not just business but the communities they serve.
When Sagufta Janif founded Straw-Hat Consultancy in 2018, her goal was to help businesses, and particularly MSMEs, become drivers of sustainable, inclusive growth by equipping them with the right tools, insights and support to improve environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Today, Straw-Hat works with private-sector firms, and multilateral and development organisations, delivering advisory services, training and capacity-building programmes.
Yet, what makes Straw-Hat distinctive is not just its focus on sustainability, but the way it operates. Based in a small Pacific island economy, the consultancy operates fully online, Ms Janif explained. (....)