Pacific Trade Invest New Zealand (PTI NZ), together with the Fiji Trade & Investment Commission, recently hosted a Fijian delegation in Auckland, led by the Honourable Ifereimi Vasu, Minister for iTaukei Affairs, and his officials from the iTaukei Board. The Minister was accompanied by Pita Tagicakirewa, Permanent Secretary; Solomone Nati, CEO, iTaukei Land Trust Board; Aisake Taito, CEO, iTaukei Trust Fund Board; Apimeleki Tola, Chairman – iTaukei Lands and Fisheries Commission; and Sereana Matakibau, Director Finance. Josua CEO, Aisake Taito, gave an overview of the purpose of the visit.
In line with the delegation’s strong business and economic development focus, the Fiji Trade & Investment Commission invited a select group of Fiji business operators based in Auckland to meet with the delegates. This was an opportunity for the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs to meet Fiji business operators face-to-face, to hear their perspectives on trade with New Zealand. Ministry officials were open to learning more about opportunities in New Zealand for Fijian agricultural produce.
PTI NZ Trade Commissioner, Glynis Miller, gave an overview of trade and investment relations between Fiji and New Zealand, and stressed the importance of long-term planning. Glynis Miller said, “Any country looking to New Zealand as their export market should first understand the market dimensions that drive or influence demand.” Ms Miller went on to emphasise that what Fiji needs to do better, if it is to retain its stronghold on agricultural exports, is to pivot to commercial scale operations. The delegates talked about shifting trends in the marketplace, particularly following the challenges faced during the COVID pandemic.
Fiji’s Ministry of iTaukei Affairs has oversight of the country’s land-based resources, generally owned by land-owning groups across the 14 provinces. Mr Aisake Taito, iTaukei Trust Fund Board CEO, emphasised the importance for resource owners to better understand ways and means to commercialise their resources for both food security and export, so the benefits remain with resource owners. This comes on the back of last year’s National Resource Owners Forum, in which Fiji’s Prime Minister, the Hon. Sitiveni Rabuka, committed his government’s support to empowering landowners to better manage their resources.
This support is vital, as nearly 70 per cent of the country’s labour force is engaged in the agricultural and forestry resources sector, which contributes more than 15 per cent to Fiji’s volume of exports and some 18 per cent to the country’s GDP.
During their visit, the Fijian delegation held discussions with Māori Iwi. The visitors were interested to learn how many of New Zealand’s Māori iwi had successfully commercialised land resources in different sectors – especially in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism – with the intention to apply some of those learnings and strategies in the Fijian context.
PTI NZ shared copies of their NZ Market Insights quick reference guides for ginger, root crops and turmeric, which the visitors found to be extremely useful.
