Onus on Fiji to take advantage of the offer, Qarase says

Dionisia Tabureguci

Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

For a country that has an economist as its Prime Minister and a nuclear scientist as president, it may be somewhat of a wonder if India had not responded the way it did when Fiji's trade delegation paid its now widely publicised visit there last month.

The overwhelming reception shown by the Government of India was the subject of much enthusiastic dialogue by those who were part of the delegation even weeks after they returned home.

Yet, India's renewed interest in this small island nation, if perhaps seen through the eyes of its leaders, may be quite understandable.

A country with under-utilised natural resources such as Fiji might make for a challenging economic case for the economist mind of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while Fiji's strategic positioning in the region may be seen as interesting, and perhaps even a useful aspect by President A P J Abdul Kalam, who incidentally, is well known as the retired architect of India's missile programme and the driving force behind India's quest for cutting edge defence technologies.

Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase... happy with his trip to India.

But Fiji's trade mission, which went as a response to an invitation by the Government of India, had its own issues to burn. The country's frantic need for export markets had seen top officials voicing the need to move away from the almost subconscious dependence on the two major neighbouring trading partners-Australia and New Zealand-and to look elsewhere.

China and India showed up on the cards as exciting new prospects. As those who returned with stories to tell are still lamenting, the experience in India was an invaluable one and the outcome in terms of trading opportunities and better bilateral relations were many.

“Overall, the visit was very rewarding and satisfying,” says Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase. “We were able to prepare the groundwork for reinforcing cooperation and friendship between our countries. It was a heart-warming experience.”

While India stood to gain very little from Fiji by way of trade and investment, it was ready and willing to assist Fiji's effort to steer the national economy to a path that is more sustainable.

One key industry that India has thrown itself into is the sugar industry. More than ever before-as export earnings from sugar and garment are expected to fall-Fiji is heavily dependent on its sugar income and the government has struggled to keep the sugar business afloat while it scrambles to fast-track the development of other exportable natural commodities.

India's entry in to the scene is seen as timely and helpful as it has come not only with a F$86 million soft loan offer but also with a team of technical experts whose intention is to duplicate the successful sugar mills in Mysore in Fiji by turning the Fiji Sugar Corporation into a very modern and highly integrated producer of sugar, electricity, ethanol and organic fertilisers.

Carting cane to the mill...India is providing a $8-million soft loan to help our sugar industry.

If this deal was the beginning of a redefined Fiji-India relationship, the compact was further solidified during the Fiji mission's one week stay in the subcontinent.

Apart from finalising the details of the soft loan from the Indian government-owned Exim Bank, the Fiji delegation scored a rarity, bagging four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) along with two bilateral agreements relating to water resources management and coconut industry development.

“We were informed that for official government visits to India, the Indian government would normally sign up to two agreements for bilateral cooperation,” Qarase says.

“In Fiji's case, the Indian government was prepared to make an exception. It's a clear indication of its readiness and commitment to strengthen its cooperation and friendship with Fiji. The Indian government fully understands our needs in areas such as investment, trade, education and health.”

Members of the private sector that were part of the delegation came back with joint venture proposals offered by businesspeople they met in India, according to Fiji Chamber of Commerce immediate vice president Natwarlal Vagh.

“They were very interested in Fiji and the opportunity to do business with them looks very good.”

Should businesses in Fiji follow up on these proposals, the door has been opened for them in the form of the four MoUs, which laid the foundation in the areas of health and medicine, tourism, Information and Communication Technology.

The fourth MoU allowed for the setting up of a joint trade committee that will consist of very senior officials of both governments who will meet annually for discussions.

Says Qarase: “From a government point of view, that was the most important outcome of the trip because the four MoUs will now form the basis of improving and enhancing the relationship between the two countries on a bilateral level and this is in terms of government to government relationship, trade, investment and any other issue that would be of interest to the two countries.”

But while the door for investment and trade opportunities have indeed been opened by India, the key to making everything work clearly lies in the hands of those in Fiji.

In the hotel industry, one may expect two major hotels in India to investigate the building of its hotels in Fiji and in the ICT industry, a big service export commodity is in the making with the joint venture between Amalgamated Telecom Holdings and an Indian IT company to set up Fiji's first technology park.

In the area of health, India's assistance would depend on what Fiji's health ministry would propose or negotiate under the health MoU. But immediate assistance could come in the form of doctor supply.

On Fiji's part, seizing the golden chance to trade with one of the world's biggest consumer markets is not something the government should rest its laurels over.

“This is a tremendous opportunity and it's up to us in Fiji to follow up on those agreements,” says Qarase. “I shall be recommending to cabinet the setting up of a taskforce to consist of representatives from some ministries and from the private sector to monitor the follow-up actions on the four agreements. It is all very well signing them, but if we don't follow them up, then we can't get any benefits out of it.”