Election not ‘magic cure’ to Fiji’s ills: Naidu

Election not ‘magic cure’ to Fiji’s ills: Naidu

www.fijilive.com - 17 JUN 2008

The national election is not the ‘magic cure’ for anybody’s ills, let alone Fiji’s economy, says a strong advocate for the country's early return to democratic rule. Prominent Suva-based lawyer Richard made the comment during a panel discussion at the 36th Fiji Institute of Accountant’s annual congress, which ended at the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort in Nadroga on Saturday.Naidu was responding to a question posed by Pacific Sun’s general manager Manoa Kamikamica who asked whether the election was the genuine answer to moving Fiji forward to a stable and investor-friendly environment.Kamikamica said most questions for the corporate sector in Fiji centred on investment plan and stability.“In terms of moving forward and really moving forward to the future, how difficult will it be without an election, because Ratu Joni yesterday was talking about the abrogation of the Constitution in order to have an election? To actually get things moving forward, do we need to have an election? “It’s not the election,” Naidu responded, adding the election was but one demonstration of Fiji’s ability to follow the rule of law.“The election itself is not a magic cure for anybody’s ills. It’s about following the rule of law and staying within the framework of the Constitution because that’s what investors want,” he said.“They want a stable, understandable set of rules that doesn’t change,” he added.Naidu said for the last 20 years, things had changed. “You have a coup, everything changes, nobody knows what the law is, and nobody knows what the rules are.”During the panel discussion on Saturday, Naidu asked about 300 delegates to raise their hands if they believed that the interim Government was an investor-friendly regime. No hands went up.“Government has got to ask, not tell,” said Naidu.“There’s no point telling us all of the great things that you’re doing to make yourself investor friendly if the community…and this is the investment community, does not believe you,” Naidu said of Government. “It’s about confidence and you cannot have confidence until you have rule of law. And so the elections is not the solution but the elections is the demonstration that we’re actually prepared to go back to the rule of law and stick to it,” he said.“It’s five hard years before anybody will believe us that we can actually stick to the promise. So, the sooner we make a start, the better,” he added.

Shock move by FHL board

Shock move by FHL board

www.sun.com.fj - 6/15/2008

A veil of secrecy surrounds the future of a Fijian investment company's board and managing director.
Fijian Holdings Limited managing director Sitiveni Weleilakeba and some of the board of directors are understood to have resigned following a board meeting last Friday.

Mr Weleilakeba could not be reached for a comment last night. His partner Laisa Digitaki said yesterday Mr Weleilakeba would not be making any comment to the media as yet.

In his capacity as FHL's managing director, he is also chairman of this newspaper's board of directors.

Those who have resigned include chairman Joe Mar, group managing director Mr Weleilakeba, directors Tui Maleikai, Mohammed Asif Razak and Ioane Naiveli.

Those who remain on the board include Ulaiasi Baya, Isoa Kaloumaira and Robin Storck who now becomes the chairman.

Mr Storck said he was not aware of the reasons behind the resignations of the other board members.

“From what I know, they resigned voluntarily and only they know the reason for their resigning,” said Mr Storck.

He said the new changes were in the best interest of the company and the decision was made by B Class shareholders. Newly appointed to the board are businessman Padam Lala, Basic Industries chief executive officer Sereana Qoro and Fiji Military Force acting chief of staff Colonel Mohammed Aziz.

No comments could be obtained from them regarding the appointments.

Ms Qoro is tipped to replace Mr Weleilakeba as the group managing director. Colonel Aziz was appointed deputy board chairman.

No confirmation could be obtained from board members on the reasons for their resignation.

Fijian Holdings Limited is an equity investment company. The company's subsidiaries include Basic Industries Limited, Blue Lagoon Cruises Holdings Limited, Clariti (South Pacific) Limited, FHL Securities Limited, Fijian Property Trust Company Limited, Fiji Industries Limited, Fijian Holdings Trust Management Limited and Merchant Finance and Investment Company Limited.

Former company executive Laisenia Qarase declined to comment on the changes to the FHL board.

The new board is expected to release a media statement on Tuesday to inform the company shareholders on the changes.

Fund shortages nothing new: SDL

Fund shortages nothing new: SDL
http://www.sun.com.fj/ - 6/10/2008

The shortage of funds in many Government departments is nothing new, says a major political party.
Soqosoqo Duavata Ni Lewenivanua party national director Peceli Kinivuwai said ever since the December 2006 military coup the State has been facing money problems.
The reports have been strongly denied by Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry.
Reacting to media reports claiming the State had no funds for planned projects Mr Kinivuwai said the problem had become serious.
“There are reports that the one-third cash contributions already paid into government for self-help projects cannot be refunded because of shortage of funds.
“Owners of these projects have asked for refunds because they have waited too long for the implementation of their projects. Some of them have waited since December, 2006. They want their funds back so that they can use them for other investments,” Mr Kinivuwai said.
Mr Kinivuwai said the release of funds is the primary responsibility of the Ministry of Finance. He has blamed the interim Minister of Finance, Mahendra Chaudhry for the current problems. Mr Kinivuwai said that Mr Chaudhry is so obsessed about achieving a budget surplus at any cost.
“Mr Chaudhry knows that the easiest way to achieve this is to withhold essential expenditures.
“As a result of this disastrous policy our roads are in very poor conditions; water supply problems continue; there are serious shortages of drugs in many hospitals; students are starving; rural development projects have ceased, and the list goes on,” said Kinivuwai.
Mr Chaudhry in response to the report said the media company that ran the story was ill-advised.
He alleged that the media company was bent on discrediting the interim government and its work

Consumer Council Questions Air Pacific

Consumer Council Questions Air Pacific
www.fijivillage.com - 10/06/2008

The Consumer Council of Fiji has questioned the International carrier, Air Pacific on why it has decided to increase the air fares from Fiji to Australia and New Zealand when it is making a record profit of 38.2 million dollars.Council CEO Premila Kumar said a record profit of such an amount was made despite being faced with numerous hurdles last year including rising oil prices and the grounding and rescheduling of a number of flight disruptions at peak season.She said Air Pacific together with Expedia is running huge promotions overseas to lure tourists to Fiji by offering great incentives and discounts while the local consumers get nothing in return.Kumar's comments come after Air Pacific announced that it can no longer sustain current fare levels with the price of fuel reaching record highs thus it will increase its fares from Fiji to Australia and New Zealand by approximately 4% for tickets issued from tomorrow.Chief Executive Officer John Campbell has confirmed the hike saying that this is no surprise move, even though the airline has effective internal cost management and fuel hedging. Despite numerous attempts, Campbell has not made any other comment to our queries. Air Pacific operates 22 services weekly to the Australian cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne as well as services to Auckland twice daily and to Christchurch twice weekly.

Performance Reflects Leadership:Economist

Performance Reflects Leadership:Economist
www.fijivillage.com - 09/06/2008

A leading Economist believes that the current poor state of the economy is because of lack of good leadership to take the country in the right direction.Dr Mahendra Reddy, while strongly denouncing claims by the interim Finance Minister that the country is on the mend, said most pacific islands countries economy are not doing well because there is a leadership problem.Reddy said Fiji's economy has faced a lot of uncertainty from January which in turn has contributed a lot to investors losing confidence.This comes after Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry that the economy is on the right track and there are positive indicators that the economy is definitely on the mend in the short span of 15-18 months, compared to the highly precarious state it was in when they took over from the Qarase led SDL government. According to Chaudhry, Fiji's Foreign reserves have stabilized, the Government's debt levels have declined to 47% compared to the 52% under the SDL led Government, the Budget deficit has been contained to less than 2% from 5% of the Gross Domestic Product, and the interests rates have also declined from 14-15% right down to 7%.

Development bank braces for restructure

Sai's Comment: 7 June 2008

- Chaudhry's directive to FDB reminds me of a former NZ Finance Minister, Robert Muldoon. I would therefore not be surprised if the result of such interventionist approach will be the same-disaster! Economically, it does not make sense to direct FDB to concentrate on one sector. In fact, FDB will not survive unless it has a diverse portfolio of loans. The market in Fiji is small and already competitive. No wonder, loans applications have reduced both in volume and size. Otherwise, government has to make available some type of ongoing support or subsidy thereby further raising on tax payers. Chaudhry and his lot should not be making such drastic changes to FDB's policies as they are merely INTERIM government. The sooner they're gone come the elctions the better it will be for FDB and its customers.

Policy shift forces FDB to cut costs

www.fijilive.com - 08 JUN 2008

The Fiji Development Bank says it will need to cut its operating costs to keep its margins.This comes as its commercial loan books begin to shrink leading to reduced income following a government directive to change its lending focus, away from commercial to resource based, manufacturing and the micro loans sectors.FDB chief executive officer Tukana Bovoro said if the bank was unable to cut costs then the Government would be required somewhere along the line, perhaps in a couple of years to start putting capital in to plug possible losses.However, plans are now being put in place to ensure that this does not happen and this includes realigning staff needs to the new structure as part of the bank's cost-cutting measures.On how much FDB would lose because it has stopped lending to commercial customers, Bovoro said he could not really quantify that."The fact is that as our commercial loan books begin to dwindle, income will begin to be reduced accordingly,” he said.“Really the option for the bank is to reduce its costs so that the margins are still there.”Early this year, a government directive was given to the state-owned FDB to cut down its commercial and home lending and expand its agricultural loan portfolio.However, Bovoro indicated that the FDB's initial target over three years, was to increase loans to what it then termed as the Agriculture & Development Finance Sector to 50 per cent of the bank's total growth portfolio.“So the directive not only reinforced the direction the bank was heading but also clearly articulated what the FDB needed to achieve the interim Government's wishes,” he said.FDB had set itself pretty tough targets in trying to change its portfolio mix over the next three years, however, given the new direction, and that not much growth is expected out of its commercial book, the desired ratio of 60 per cent in focus sectors and 40 per cent in the non focus sectors, may now be possible, he added.FDB's initial intention was to go into the agricultural sector but with the support of its commercial books, which Bovoro said were very important in enabling the bank to refocus its attention.“The danger here is that we no longer have the steady income (from the commercial loans) required to steady the volatile nature on lending to the resource-based sectors,” he said.“That is the challenge the bank has and management and the board are already in discussions on how this is to be addressed.”He said the bank would look at providing loans to different sectors in the agricultural industry including dairy, beef, agricultural crops, coconuts and bio fuels.Given the increased prices in imported food and milk product, this is an opportune time for the bank to enlarge its portfolio in these sectors, however this must be approached with some caution given the associated risks, he added.“It must be remembered that FDB’s new focus sectors are volatile, very susceptible to environmental factors like the weather apart from the normal business risks like markets and so on,” Bovoro said.However, at the end of the day, the Government owns this bank, and the bank will articulate and implement government’s policy directives, Bovoro pointed out.On how much capital the Government gave the FDB every year, Bovoro clarified that government has not given the bank any capital for some time."Government provides us with interest subsidies that enable the bank provide subsidised loans to the agriculture and other sectors determined by government,” he said.In the last two years, Government subsidies have been in the range of around $3.7 million.“I think that it is important to note that even without Government subsidies the bank has been able to operate on a sustainable level, and this is a positive note about FDB’s operations to date,” Bovoro said.“The positive thing about this is that it places the bank in a stronger position to begin to do what is has been tasked to do now.“However, going forward, the challenge for the board and management will be how to continue in the same manner without depending on Government subsidies for its bottom line.”

Development bank braces for restructure

http://www.fijitimes.com/ - 07 JUN 2008

From July this year, the Fiji Development Bank will begin changes to the structure of the bank, rewriting its policies and repositioning its staff as part of a move to refocus its attention on agricultural lending. Interim Finance Minister Mahendra Chaudhry in January had given a directive to the state owned FDB to cease all corporate and housing lending and focus on agriculture. The directive was heavily criticized by industry observers who said the bank must be allowed to maintain a diversified loans portfolio if it was to survive Fiji’s very competitive banking industry. Four months on, the FDB chief executive officer Tukana Bovoro said that in compliance with the minister's directive, the bank has stopped its lending in commercial lending areas. But he also pointed out that very little business is coming in now for the bank as a whole. "The small loans are still coming through. But the level of loan applications has really gone down." On its lending to the agricultural sector, Bovoro said it was too early to judge." The first thing that we have done now is restructure the organisation.“ We have to do that because when we started off we were building an organisation that was going towards obtaining a retail banking license." But we have now been told to change direction, and concentrate on this - resource based industries, manufacturing and micro loans." So apart from changing the structure of the bank, we have got to rewrite our policies and procedures and reposition our people.“ We will go into that from July 1. That is when the structure will be in place, staff place in their new roles and the bank's new KPI kicks in."Bovoro said that in order for the bank to really get in there (agricultural sector) it needed to redevelop policies and procedures and for certain areas of the business, then to market these products into those sectors. “That does not happen overnight,” he said." So we are developing our marketing plans and when things are in place, we are going to roll the people out to do those things. So it is a big shift in the way we are doing things." He said the bank will have to work with other stakeholders including agriculture, fisheries, forests, the dairy industry, the Fiji Meat Industry board, agro marketing "to find out what else we can do together to push the production of those sectors". Meanwhile, this week the Bank Employees Union agreed on the voluntary redundancy package offered by the FDB.

No need to ‘copy’ Singapore’s civil service

No need to ‘copy’ Singapore’s civil service

www.fijilive.com - 06 JUN 2008

There is no need for us to visit Singapore to find ways of how Fiji can improve efficiency in the civil service, says a former Education minister. Nelson Delailomaloma, who was part of Laisenia Qarase’s interim regime after the 2000 coup said our civil service has a long history of inefficiency. “It is multi-layered, there are about 9-10 layers from the permanent secretary down to the clerical officers and to the PAs and to the secretaries,” he said.He made these comments at a panel discussion in Suva yesterday on the theme ‘The economic challenges and lessons to raise Fiji’s competitiveness’.Delailomaloma proposed that the civil service and players in the private sector alike should ensure it was customer-focused, an organisation with a flat structure and high productivity.He said productivity was “absolutely” essential for economic success.“What we need is a restructure in the civil service. For the sake of the people in the civil service themselves, people there have the abilities of doing whatever there is that needs to be done to restructure the civil service, so that it becomes much more effective in their decision then it is at this point in time,” Delailomaloma said.He said he also believed that people actively involved in politics should be well equipped with a vast knowledge of economics to assure the country’s economic growth.Governments’ inefficiencies and near-zero productivity is a result of policy-makers who lacked knowledge of national economic development, he said.He added that in the past, some organisations were independently resourced and operated, which indicated that there were sufficient people to create those things needed to promote the idea of productivity.“Now, I wonder therefore, quite often, whether people who have been determining our policies in government in relation to economic development make it understandable,” Delailomaloma said.“…. let’s insist that those who stand for politics have a university degree in economics before they can qualify,” he said.“This will allow them to be able to understand what economic development is all about, what national development is all about,” he told participants at the Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF)-organised productivity symposium. Participants included chief executive officers and executives from both the public and private sector.

Transtel launches home-grown Yehdo!

Transtel launches home-grown Yehdo!

www.fijilive.com - 05 JUN 2008

People in Fiji, particularly those in rural and geographically-isolated areas, can now pay their bills or purchase goods and services from the comfort of their own homes with the launching of Yehdo.Yehdo is a reloadable debit card which provides a convenient and easy means of payment of bills, purchase of goods and services, and for the transfer of value for use by everyone in the country, and would be available from any place, any where, anytime.This product, the brainchild of young local skills in the company, is expected to be rolled into the region and eventually hitting overseas markets.And the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) has applauded this initiative saying it is encouraging to see companies like TransTel take on new initiatives during such challenging times in the country.RBF Governor Savenaca Narube reiterated the RBF’s call that Fiji companies must push forward and that businesses must go on.He said it was pleasing to note that innovations as such was alive in a critical sector like telecommunications reasoning the sector played a key catalytic role in the economy.“It determines the efficient flow of information across the country and to the rest of the world. And we all know that information is power. Business cannot survive without an efficient transfer of this information,” Narube said.He said now with a deregulated telecommunication industry, “we can be guaranteed that the motivation and incentive to fulfill customer’s demands will be stronger than ever before”.He added in today’s business world, the expectations of customers on telecommunications were very high as they know what was available globally. “They want to have the kind of service they want, when and where they want it. It is not good enough for telecommunications providers to simply meet these expectations but more importantly they need to anticipate them,” Narube said.He said the new product was created in the realization that the telecom industry could and and does have a positive impact on human lives by the use of new technologies. “Advancement in the telecommunication sector and in particular the internet has, in the developed world at least, presented the market new and convenient ways of interaction between the customer and the supplier of goods and or services,” Narube said.“Customers are now able to dedicate a lot more of their time and energy to pursue their economic goals rather than being at a queue or traveling to one, to pay for goods or services.”TransTel chairman Pratap Singh told Fijilive that this product would be stretched out to the region in 12 months time with the possibility of expanding it abroad.He said all in Fiji could use this product as transactions could be made via plain old telephone (POT), EFPTOS machine, internet, and mobile phones.He said this particularly benefits rural communities where the only means of communication with the rest of Fiji is often via the Telecom Fiji phone system. “Yehdo will inculcate our corporate responsibility – to conduct business in a way that meets social, environmental and ethical concerns. We have leveraged our core competencies and business knowledge and are convinced that Yehdo will have a positive impact on everyday lives of our people while still providing a viable business solution,” Singh said.

Govt ‘has no say’ in Commerce Commission

Govt ‘has no say’ in Commerce Commission

www.fijilive.com - - 06 JUN 2008
The Fiji Government has no say in the decisions of the Commerce Commission, says chairman Charles Sweeney.However, in the case of the Fiji Electricity Authority, the statement by the interim Finance Minister was made in government’s capacity as owner of FEA.Sweeney says Mahendra Chaudhry’s decision to halt the increase in fuel tariffs was not an indication of the government having authority over the Commission.“In a price control matter, such as the FEA matter, a company subject to price control is entitled to make a request for an increase if, for example, its costs are increased by an event outside its control,” he explained.“This is what FEA has done. The first application for an increase was refused by the Commission because it had been caused by the government's decision to increase the tariffs which FEA had to pay on its petroleum purchases.”He said the Commission considered that since this was a decision of the government and since the government was the owner of FEA, FEA should be left to work through the consequences of a decision of its owner without being able to pass on the extra costs to electricity consumers.The second application by FEA, he said, was based on an increase in the cost of petroleum arising from the increase in world prices. It was not based upon the tariff change,” said Sweeney.He said it was important to understand that the Commission only authorised FEA to increase its charges to a new maximum price.“The decision whether to do so or not is a decision for FEA. Generally, however, the Commission assumes that firms do not seek price increases unless they intend to actually charge them if permitted to do so,” Sweeney said. He said Chaudhry’s decision to halt the increase was a matter for FEA and its relationship with the Government and that this did not affect the Commission's position.“The government has not made any attempt to influence the Commission in relation to FEA's application for a price rise,” Sweeney said.“The Commission is extremely careful to preserve its independence. That independence is the cornerstone of the Commission's credibility as an economic regulator.”

Fiji growth ‘at bottom of HDI pile’

Fiji growth ‘at bottom of HDI pile’

http://www.fijilive.com/ - 05 JUN 2008

Productivity growth in Fiji has averaged 1 per cent over the ten year period from 1996 to 2006 which when compared to other countries is somewhere at the bottom of the pile, Reserve Bank of Fiji governor Savenaca Narube warned.And he said that with Fiji slipping in world rankings in the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI ) (Fiji, at 92, is about halfway on the ladder), in economic performance and in the ease of doing business among other things, he said Fiji has a lot of catching up to do with other countries. He suggested that productivity could contribute to solving Fiji’s problems.Speaking at a Productivity Symposium at the Holiday Inn today, Narube said there was a lot of waiting for Government to do something – “introduce more incentives, set up committees, appoint think tanks, make laws – you name it - before we can do our own thing”. “But if I may boldly tell you this morning - this waiting around is a waste of time and money! “Productivity is one of the few things that we can do something about without any help from anyone. The ball is clearly in our court,” he told about 50 chief executive officers at the symposium organised by the Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji. He said Fiji needed to raise its investment to over 25 per cent of GDP. “We need to support and promote local investment. But this is not enough. We need to attract foreign investment,” Narube said. “Here, we are competing for the same investment dollar with some bigger and richer countries.“Investors look at several things before they invest. They look at the environment – political, economic and social. They look at government policies and regulations and how these are applied. Investors look at the state of the infrastructure. “Finally, investors also look at the quality of labour and their unit cost. The efficiency of capital is a key decision maker. Productivity therefore becomes an important issue for investors,” he added. Narube said exports must drive Fiji’s growth. Exports must be the key driver of economic growth for a country like Fiji, he pointed out. “There is, in my view, no other way to grow the economy in a sustainable manner. When we export either goods or services, we are competing with other countries supplying the same products.”He said Fiji cannot rely on preferential access anymore, something he said was being reduced. Fiji must compete not only in prices but also in quality, he added. “We are competing with many countries which have low-cost structures and high productivity,” Narube said. “Our work is cut out for us. Therefore raising our productivity level must be a priority. If we cannot compete in this integrated world, we perish - simple as that.”But how is Fiji to raise the productivity in its export sector? For Narube, Fiji must change how it does things. “Productivity in the cane fields and the sugar mills are critical to the sugar reform. We must change how we work our agricultural sector,” he said. Narube warned that the existing model was clearly not working. “Our land is fertile. We have the best pawpaw in the world, the tastiest bananas and the sweetest pineapples but alas we are not even supplying enough of these to our hotels and supermarkets,” he said. “Our oceans are large yet the price of local fish keeps rising. Our mahogany forests are mature, yet we are not exporting high valued timber products. Obviously, something is seriously wrong and we need to correct that urgently.”He said there was a tendency to talk a lot about the potential of small businesses to raise growth and provide incomes and employment. “Again, while we continue to talk, we see very little progress in this important area,” Narube said.“Are we following the right model? Where is the bottleneck?Narube said Fiji should acknowledge and accept the significant role that productivity and competitiveness could play in overcoming many of its economic challenges that it faces particularly that of lifting economic growth, attracting investment and supporting exports. “More importantly, we need to do something about this now at all levels, micro as well as macro.”

May inflation drops to 5.8% 05 JUN 2008
Inflation in May fell to 5.8 per cent from 7.6 per cent recorded in April.This compares with an inflation rate of 6.6 per cent in May last year, according to the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s latest Economic Review. For the first time since September 2007 consumer prices declined by 0.1 per cent over the month. The fall in prices were led by lower costs of food items and clothing and footwear. Marginal decreases in charges for preserved meat, fresh and preserved fruits, spices, top dressings, confectionery and some vegetables and rootcrops underpinned lower prices in the food category. Moreover, cheaper costs of men’s and children’s wear underpinned the decline in the clothing and footwear category.Consumer prices in May have weakened partly due to base related effects and some improvement in the supply of primary produce (vegetables and root crops).The removal of value added tax from eggs and fiscal duties from rice, tinned fish and cooking oil - effective since June 1 - and the base related effects will result in annual inflation trending downwards for the next few months.However, a pick up in inflation is expected towards the later part of the year, the RBF said.

Fiji job advertisements up: RBF - 05 JUN 2008

Fiji’s labour market conditions appear to have improved in some sectors including manufacturing and mining, according to the Reserve Bank of Fiji. Cumulative to April, the RBF said the number of jobs advertised rose by around 9.5 per cent when compared with a year ago.“The demand for labour was higher mainly in the manufacturing; electricity and water; mining and quarrying and community, social and personal services related firms.”The RBF said the increase could be attributed to some expected improvement in business confidence and general optimism of economic activity this year coupled with emigration of skilled workers.

Intra-regional travel ‘future of tourism’ - 05 JUN 2008

The future of tourism in the Pacific, particularly in Fiji, lies in intra-regional travel by tourists, says interim Tourism Minister Tom Ricketts.He said Fiji’s tourism industry was faced with a lot of enormous challenges, one of which was that highlighted by the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) – the accelerating changes in the travelling pattern.“With the insecurity of travel, be it perceived or real, there is no doubt that the future of tourism lies in intra-regional travel with a growing preference for short break vacations close to one's home,” Ricketts said. “According to the WTO, about 80 per cent of the international tourist arrivals were short-haul regional holidays,” he said while officially opening the annual Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange (BFTE) at the Warwick Resort in Sigatoka last night. “We must work together to capitalise on this increasing trend night.”He said over the past ten years, the BFTE had gained a formidable reputation as the largest trade show in the South Pacific, continuing to attract tourism organisations and operators from throughout the region with a majority still from within Fiji. “This event gives Fiji and the Pacific region an opportunity to market its products,” he added.Ricketts said success in tourism must also be built on the strengthened partnership between private and public sectors. He said Fiji’s effective tourism revival campaign after the events of 2006 were possible with the close public and private co-operation that the crisis brought about. “Thirdly, WTO reminds us that competition is the key driving force of change. One key development is the use of information technology which has brought ever closer the distance between travellers and a destination,” Ricketts said. “The competition among destinations is intensified and has become globalised.” Ricketts said: “The BFTE brings together the regional tourist operators and the wholesalers from different parts of the world.“We hope that apart from renewing old relationships, new ones will be made and that the end result will be a growth in new business opportunities for both parties.”He reminded all players in the tourism industry that they needed to grow tourism to benefit their people.“Our aim is to exceed the expectation of our visitors,” Ricketts said.“We want to establish Fiji as a unique destination and ensure that the industry is seen as a benefit to all by embracing social and cultural traditions and practices while minimising the impact on our ecology.”