Mr Ricketts - Launching of the new name of the "Fiji Export Council"
Jun 20, 2008, 10:49

MR TOM R RICKETTS
MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, TOURISM, TRADE & COMMUNICATIONS


Lali Room, Holiday Inn, Suva Thursday, 19/6/08 - 6.30pm


The Chairman and Directors of the Exporters Club,
Honourable Ministers,
Permanent Secretaries,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.


1.0 Good Evening, Ni sa bula vinaka, Namaste.

2.0 I am very pleased to be here this evening among distinguished guests on this special occasion to launch a new name for an important body.

Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. Well, maybe, but I think we all know that, in fact, names are very important, even a small change in a name can be significant and this function tonight is to celebrate such a change.

3.0 I gladly accepted this invitation for many reasons - two of them are:

3.1 One – the roles of this Club directly relate to my portfolio as Minister responsible for Industry and Trade. This includes the promotion of Trade and Investment through the FTIB. We have Trade Commissions in LA & Taiwan and we’re establishing a new one in Shanghai. We realise that it is vital to promote exports which we are encouraging through programmes such as the National Export Strategies, Private Sector Development Roadmap, National Centre for Small and Micro-Enterprises Development, the Commerce Commission, and the Consumer Council of Fiji.

3.2 The second reason for my accepting the invitation from the Exporters Club is that I was personally involved in the application for this change in name for the Club when the Attorney General referred the matter to me for my consideration and endorsement early this year.

4.0 At present the Government of Fiji together with its Pacific Islands Forum members are working towards the completion of a full Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, a Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA); and PACER Plus. The input from the Exporters Club will not only be appreciated but also essential to ensure the success of these agreements.

5.0 We should all be concerned at the recent banning of Fiji from exporting fish to the EU. We need to draw lessons from such incidents and work towards avoiding a recurrence of such situations where our exports are barred from entering other countries. I am glad to say here that Cabinet has addressed this issue and a new Food unit under the Ministry of Health will be set up. This will ensure that similar problems in future will be resolved quickly and that our food exports meet the required international standard.

6.0 Now a little bit about the Exporters Club. It was established to monitor the compliance of the Duty Suspension Scheme commonly known as DSS. This scheme will replace TFF licenses which will be expiring soon. It took some time to establish the scheme but I am told that it now working very well. The volume of DSS exports may be low at present. However, I believe it will grow rapidly when TFF licenses come to an end and these factories transfer to DSS.

7.0 The Exporters Club has always played a vita l role in the development of exports. The CEO is a member of the former Ministry of Commerce’s National Exports Strategy (NES) Design Taskforce. The Taskforce was involved in the consultation and preparation of the actual document which took more than a year. The Exporters Club process together with its CEO, some Board Members, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Trade Centre. Some sectors of the export industries were also involved. I appreciate the effort made by the Exporters Club and other stakeholders towards the National Exports Strategy (NES). Incidentally my Ministry has placed an advertisement in the papers on the last 2 Saturdays, inviting applications for assistance under the NES.

8.0 Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been advised by the CEO that Exporters Club has now expanded its role and, apart from monitoring the compliance of DSS, it will also look at providing training at all levels to personnel involved in the import and export industry. This will enhance in handling of import and export matters. You are all aware that this line of training is currently not available from any of the training providers in Fiji. A couple of years ago Exporters Club in conjunction with Fiji Employers Federation and AusAid had four sessions of such training both in Suva and Lautoka.

9.0 Exporters Club has also developed a new website which will link importers and exporters. Difficulty in market access will be a thing of the past through this website.

10.0 Currently only DSS operators are members of Exporters Club. This re-organization will open up new avenues, all importers and exporters will now be eligible to join the Council. I have also been informed that students at tertiary level will also be able to join the council as student members. It is therefore appropriate that the organization depart from the elitist name “club” and adopt the more inclusive term “council”. Council has a more serious connotation whereas Club sounds like a social organization. And the addition of Fiji reminds us that this is a national effort.

11.0 The mainstay of this country is exports. Without exports our foreign reserve will diminish and we will have weak importing power. Our country has an abundance of natural resources. However, resource owners and stakeholders need to be encouraged to fully utilize these resources and produce exportable commodities. The Fiji Export Council may take up this as one of its challenges and bring about awareness.

12.0 It has been confirmed by Reserve Bank of Fiji that our foreign reserves stand at about $830M which can cater for 3.6 months of imports. We can improve this position only by expanding and improving our exports profile. Otherwise we will always be in deficit as far as foreign reserve is concerned.

13.0 The Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau is doing its best to encourage overseas investors to come and set up factories to add value to these natural resources.

14.0 Tourism, Ladies and Gentlemen is also considered as an export commodity and the Department of Tourism and its stakeholders like SOFTA, FHA and FVB are also doing their best in promoting our Tourism Industry.

15.0 Ladies and Gentlemen, I am confident that the board of Exporters Club must have given a lot of thought to this name change to Fiji Export Council ie. not only a name change but a change in direction.

16.0 I wish to encourage all export industry stakeholders to work together in this trying time. I also take this opportunity to commend the Exporters Club on their contributions and achievements. I wish also to encourage new members to consider joining the Fiji Exports Council.

17.0 My Ministry and the current government will support your organization towards the realization of your aims and aspirations.

18.0 Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been told that in a few seconds from now we will have the honour of cutting the ribbon to launch the new name of the Club as the Fiji Export Council. Before I do so, I wish to pay tribute to the Club, its former and current executives and members and I congratulate the Fiji Export Council in its formally coming into being.

Thank you!!!


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