Now FTIB works on encouraging investment in the primary sectors

Dionisia Tabureguci
The DHL-sponsored Exporter of the Year Award (EYA) organised by the Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau has spilled over to reflect the current state of the economy, particularly addressing the government's plans to expand the country's export base.

Tomasi Vuetilovoni...

The country's export situation has been on the radar for a while, particularly with sugar and garment incomes on the decline and nothing really sustainable could be found to fill the gap.

The Reserve Bank of Fiji, guardian of foreign reserves and monetary stability, has been pointing out the need to kick-start activities in the resource-based sectors so that the expected external shocks do not do more damage than the country can handle.

While the awards have, over the years, focused generally on business size and export destination, this year is the first time it is going a little deeper to also include one sector of the economy, a response by the FTIB to a request made by the Minister for Commerce, Business Development and Investment Tomasi Vuetilovoni.

A notable inclusion in this year's Exporter of the Year awards is the commendation awards for commendable achievements made by exporters in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors.

Vuetilovoni's speech at the EYA launch, may have reflected the government's thinking regarding this national concern.

“The inclusion (of resource based sectors namely fisheries, forestry and agriculture) will reflect more the thrust of our national policy which includes the diversification of our economy and the development of our natural resource sectors, particularly in the areas of value adding.”

When this edition went to press, the FTIB was still receiving entries for the award, “a favourable response”, as described by FTIB chief executive, Lailun Khan, to an event which has, over the years, grown in size and popularity.

“There has been positive feedback from exporters in light of the quality of submissions and we hope to receive more quality submissions as we have done aggressive marketing of the EYA,” says Khan.

“This year's commendation awards will provide an avenue to promote and encourage export activities in these sectors-the heart of government's national policies.”

Khan had told FIJI BUSINESS during the EYA launch that FTIB was trying to encourage investment in primary sectors because it suspects investors may not be aware of their potential.

“Agricultural exports are still fairly low but there's still untapped potential there. We are expecting a slight increase (in investments) in fisheries and timber but more could be done through more incentives by government as the cost of doing business is high in Fiji,” Khan had said.

There was also expectation that investment activities in the Information Technology business would pick up and that the optimism in the tourism sector would continue, reflecting the strong performance and positive contribution from the services sector.

But it is the stimulation of the resource based parts of the economic machinery which is proving a bit more of a challenge.

Furthermore, the question arises as to how Fiji would compete in the now open global trading environment.

At the rate things are moving (the expected slow down of the economy, worsening trade deficit, increasing balance of payment situation, to name a few), a degree of soul searching is necessary.

“The real challenge we face is now how to respond to the phenomenon of globalisation,” Vuetilovoni had told those present at the EYA launch.

“The comfort of preferential treatment has gone. It is time to face reality. It is time to formulate our responses to an open global market.

"One of our responses is that we must be highly competitive. We need to foster a culture of healthy competition in this country and this will drive us to bring about more efficiency and to reduce the costs of doing business.”

While each year the EYA attempts to reward existing exporters who are active contributors to the national foreign reserves, efforts are continuously being made to widen the participation to reflect, as much as possible the different types of export businesses.

Last year, a new category, the FMF-sponsored Exporter to the Pacific Islands Award, which rewards the company that has demonstrated overall excellence in exporting to the Pacific Islands.

This year, aside from the commendations awards, the entry threshold for one category has been dropped a little to allow more businesses to enter.

“We have done a review of the guidelines to include small companies earning up to $500,000 in foreign exchange earnings to compete in the Small Exporter of the Year award category.

In previous years, the ceiling for the same award category had been $1 million, discouraging small companies from applying.”

This year too, another good indication that this is becoming a much-anticipated event is the fact that a new venue had to be found to cater for up to 400 people instead of the 300 in previous years, according to Khan.

This year's EYA will be held at the Shangri La's Fijian Resort on the 26th of this month and will feature 12 categories, including the main award, which is the DHL Prime Minister's Exporter of the Year Award, and three commendation awards. Last year's DHL Exporter of the Year winner was Pure Fiji.