[Photo: File]

Fiji has an opportunity to increase exports to Australia.

Thus, Finance Permanent Secretary Shiri Goundar states that Fiji must first address domestic challenges that are holding back its ability to compete.

Goundar told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs that the Fiji-Australia treaty could help reduce the cost of doing business and improve productivity.

He said that could help Fiji produce more goods and services for the Australian market.

But he stressed that financing alone will not deliver stronger exports.

“We do have a trade deficit with Australia. We import significantly more from Australia than we export.”

Goundar said there was significant work that must be done domestically to take advantage of the Australian market.

He pointed to economic diversification, including investment in agri-business and agri-processing as areas where Fiji has potential.

However, he said further domestic intervention is needed to make that opportunity work.

The challenge is clear in Fiji’s existing trade relationship with Australia.

Goundar said Fiji currently runs a trade deficit with Australia, importing significantly more from the country than it exports.

The treaty is therefore being positioned as more than a financing arrangement.

According to Goundar, investment in critical infrastructure and support for the private sector could create greater momentum for Fiji’s exports.

He said interventions in areas such as drugs and HIV could also reduce the cost of doing business or improve productivity.

But the responsibility does not end with external financing.

Goundar said Fiji must make the necessary domestic changes if it wants to take advantage of the Australian market.

The message from the hearing is that access to a large export market is not enough on its own.

Fiji needs stronger domestic production, economic diversification and investment in areas such as agriculture and agri-processing if it is to turn the Australian market into greater export earnings.