Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says that Fiji anticipates no immediate impact from the 32 percent export duty by the United States.

However, he cautioned that in the long run, this duty could negatively affect Fiji’s tourism industry, which contributes 40 percent to the nation’s GDP along with the services sector.

Speaking at a Plenary Session of the NEXT Milan Forum on ‘Balancing Economic and Climate Resilience’ in Italy this morning, Professor Prasad highlighted that the strong economies of Australia and New Zealand have cushioned the effects for Fiji.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad [Source: Biman Prasad DPM/ Facebook]

However, Prasad warns that if the tariff war escalates into a global economic slowdown and impacts the disposable income of Fiji’s major tourism source destinations, then the nation will face negative consequences.

“Our main sources for tourists, then we could see a significant impact on our economy because while tourism remains a very strong component of our economy, 60% of the rest of the economy comes from the export of some of our primary sectors and we are focusing on diversifying our economy away from tourism.”

[Source: Biman Prasad DPM/ Facebook]

Prasad further called for a tailored approach to international relations and trade to ensure that vulnerable small island economies address adaptations strategies and build resilience to withstand periods of uncertainty.

“So the global economic uncertainty and we don’t know right now how the trade diversion that is going to take place, how that will translate into various transmission mechanisms of trade remittances, whether that is going to have a drastic impact on our economies and our ability then to be able to shift resources to other sectors to diversify and keep our economy economies resilient and sustainable.”

Professor Prasad emphasized that enhanced cross-border collaboration in the Pacific, through deeper regional integration like visa-free travel and harmonized policies, can drive economic growth and tackle shared challenges.

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