Consistency, stability key to Fiji's economic growth, says minister

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04:17

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released its Asian Development Outlook 2019 last month, projecting Fiji's economy will expand 3.2 percent in 2019 and 3.5 percent in 2020. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the Fijian attorney-general and minister for economy, said maintaining "consistence and stability" in economic growth is crucial for his country.

The global economy is projected to grow by 3.3 percent and countries like China and India are growing fast, but "maintaining a three- to four-percent growth rate will be good for us," Sayed-Khaiyum said.

Consistent and stable economic growth is more suitable for Fiji than pursuing high growth rate.

"We need the consistence and stability in growth. Historically, Fiji has had a very long period of negative growth, we never had 10 years of straight growth," he explained.

To spur economic development, Fiji is trying to attract more private investments and talents.

"We only have 900,000 people. And as the economy grows, you need more specialization and more professional skills," he stated.

The Fijian Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum speaks to CGTN. /CGTN Photo

Meanwhile, he highlighted the importance of establishing a modern education system. "If you don't have people trained, then you will miss all opportunities."

Sayed-Khaiyum added that bringing new technology and digitalization into the education system will ensure people are more responsive to the market needs.

Fiji is the most developed Pacific nation and depends heavily on tourism, but Sayed-Khaiyum also sees potential in other areas such as manufacturing and food processing.

"We focus on Fijian manufacturing and processing. There is potential, particularly in value-adding industry. In respect to manufacturing, there are certain products you can get much cheaper prices here. And Fiji also does manufacture, such as furniture, for other Asia Pacific countries," he noted.

Chinese investment in Fiji sometimes gets a bad reputation due to Western media coverage. One-off cases shouldn't be played up. It's about individual investors, instead of investors from a certain country, he noted.

Sayed-Khaiyum continued with an example. "You have 10 investors from China. One may not do the right thing. That doesn't mean that the other nine Chinese investors are bad."

"From our perspective, we need to make sure that the investors meet the regulatory requirements and environmental standards," the minister stressed. He also denied Fiji Airways is monopolizing direct flight routes to China.