Peceli Naviticoko 
Fiji is charting a new course for its trade future, with the launch of the country’s second National Trade Policy Framework, a blueprint that will guide trade and investment from 2025 to 2036.
Permanent Secretary for Trade, Shaheen Ali, says the new plan builds on the achievements of the first framework launched in 2015, which positioned the country as a confident player in global trade.
“The global trading environment has changed, and the trading landscape has changed, and Fiji’s economic dimensions have changed as well. So we want the plan to be for the Fijian people, and it needs to be driven by the people and the private sector.”
The new framework will also focus on emerging realities, such as the rapid growth of digital trade and e-commerce.
FRIEND Fiji Acting CEO, Viloki Gohil, stresses the importance of bridging the training gap between Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, to ensure grassroots communities are not left behind.
Trade Consultant, Professor Chris Noonan, says exporters continue to emphasize the need for stronger access to export markets.
“I guess the key thing is that the exporters and the firms in different parts of Fiji are dealing with different issues as well, and so by coming here to Labasa, we need to hear and understand what the problems are for the local exporters and the local producers.”
The Ministry says the framework is designed to serve all Fijians from big corporations to SMEs, cooperatives, women, and youth entrepreneurs, making Fiji’s trade future more inclusive and globally competitive.
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