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Fiji Fiji

people left Fiji, 16,000 of them on work permits. Minister and Minister for External Trade, Manoa Kamikamica
Finance Permanent Secretary, Shiri Gounder, said even his identified opportunities in nutraceuticals, medical cannabis
own ministry has not been immune: “The Ministry of Finance and packaging of traditional medicine.
has lost 20% of its staff, most of whom have migrated,” he “We do have one player already in Fiji already making seri-
told the summit. ous noises about developing that particular industry. So, if
Gounder noted, “around $300 million or one third of a that happens, we are already off to the races in terms of that
billion dollars was received in remittances in 2022 via digital particular industry. So these are some of the potential powers
wallets,” and total remittances exceeded the $1 billion-mark of innovation that currently exists,” he told delegates.
last year. The summit also acknowledged small and medium-sized
Several participants suggested that immigration and work enterprises for their significant contribution to the economy,
permit processes be re-examined to help plug workforce gaps but also the difficulties they face in establishing and running
in certain areas. The summit’s communique acknowledged the their businesses.
labout trends, “emphasises the serious lack of skilled labour The government has set up an Investment Facilitation Com-
arising from labour mobility” and called for re-establishment mittee to help eliminate these bottlenecks and the phenom-
of apprenticeship schemes. Higher education institutions, enon of agencies working in silos, and is looking to integrate
which were well represented at the summit, were also identi- and digitise key agencies processes in a single portal in
fied as key to finding solutions to the perceived brain drain. response to these concerns.

Rural and outer islands and resource holders Next steps
Several working groups were focused on opportunities in The finance ministry is accepting written budget submis-
rural and outer islands, and land and ocean-based resources. sions until May 15, and the Fiscal Review Committee is due
Fijian Holdings Limited CEO, Jaoji Koroi told the summit that to deliver its recommendations, based on consultations it has
75% of iTaukei (indigenous Fijians) are living in poverty, and held around the country.
that 45% of these are living in rural areas. In the longer term, delegates at the summit called for
Some of the untapped, or under developed resource areas strengthened planning capacity within government ministries,
identified by the summit included agriculture, minerals, for- and re-establishment of the National Planning Office. The
estry and fisheries. 12 thematic working groups will continue to meet and work
As with many sectors, the dearth of good data to inform through their recommendations.
policy making was identified as a major gap, with Koroi say- Opening the summit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for
ing improving data collection, sharing and analysis should Finance, Professor Biman Prasad said no single group, or per-
be prioritised. The previous government refused to disclose son has a monopoly on good ideas, and the summit was about
data desegregated on ethnic lines, but Koroi suggested this re-weaving this network.
practice end. At the end of the two days, he was confident this was hap-
pening.
Poverty and cost of living “People wanted to be engaged deeply, and meaningfully,
Richard Naidu told the summit that there are 200,000 Fiji- and what we have seen out of these discussions from the
ans living in poverty, and 96,000 citizens on the welfare rolls. thematic groups is the passion and commitment to help the
A number of delegates asked for consideration of the fate government find solutions. So what we are going to see from
of these citizens if VAT was to be increased, and strategies to now onwards is a new style of governance, a new sense of
end generational poverty, confidence, a renewed sense of engagement and dialogue and
The final communique noted the high poverty levels, par- this is going to be a new culture.”
ticularly in rural and island communities, and urged a review The government will also see higher expectations because
of the minimum wage “considering commercial realities, the of this process. Not everybody will be happy with the eco-
cost of living and welfare of Fiji’s working sector.” nomic decisions it will eventually have to make in the 2023/24
Fiji Council of Social Services Executive Director, Vani Cata- budget and beyond, as is abundantly clear from the reaction
nasiga, who is also a member of the Fiscal Review Committee, to the ideas that have been mooted around taxation.
has suggested a separate summit on poverty be convened to How the government responds to the inevitable criticisms,
discuss the plight of Fiji’s poor in more detail. and whether it can continue to meaningfully engage stake-
holders, and not just those inside its political tent, will be the
Innovation real test.
The need to diversify Fiji’s economy was a strong theme, al-
though there was also acknowledgement that many underlying editor@islandsbusiness.com
services need to be rectified to take full advantage of emerg-
ing sectors. There was support for continued investment in
the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. Deputy Prime

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