Litia Cava 
[File Photo]
Freight costs are strangling Fiji’s trade with Vanuatu despite a new partnership.
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka admitted this in Parliament while responding to an oral question.
Thus, he states that high port charges, commercial operations at Fiji Ports Corporation, and shipping line fees remain major barriers, but solutions are possible if the government and transport agencies act decisively.
“There can be a solution with the actual handlers, actual players who are involved in the trade as well as our transport agencies, whether it be seaport or airport as well as the port charges are a very major thing particularly with the Fiji Ports Corporation Limited running as a commercial entity and also the shipping lines and their logistics and expenses.”
Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
Opposition MP Vijay Maharaj warned that it costs five times more to ship goods from Fiji to Vanuatu than from Australia to Fiji.
He said these high air and sea freight costs are eroding the benefits of the Melanesian Spearhead Group trade agreements and called for urgent government intervention.
“I do business with the Ministry of Health Vanuatu as well. One of the major factors in agreements between Fiji and Vanuatu, not just Vanuatu even Solomon Islands and PNG, is the logistic. Logistic in transferring the goods from Fiji to Vanuatu.”
Rabuka confirmed Fiji and Vanuatu signed a Memorandum of Understanding on September 10, covering trade, labour mobility, education, health, agriculture, fisheries, climate change, and disaster response.
The Prime Minister added the pact formalises a relationship rooted in neighbourly care and trust while creating a framework for deeper cooperation in governance, economic growth and regional security.
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