This is a forum for the heads of businesses/organisations where we ask various leaders one topical question.
The Reserve Bank of Fiji has revised the country’s economic growth upward to 4.3 per cent for this year.
This seems highly likely given the major investments taking place in the country.
The local investment seems to be at an all-time-high as well as increasing foreign investments following the 2014 General Elections.
Despite this forecast, there have been predictions by experts that this 4.3 per cent figure could easily increase.
This week in leaders talk we got reactions from the business executives in terms of their thoughts on this economic growth forecast.
Below are their responses:
Yes, we strongly believe the actual figure would exceed RBF forecast. It is the business sentiment that triggers growth. We do see increase in building permits, no of plans on drawing boards, request for cement quotes etc. In addition, we are experiencing improvement in consumption through retail activities as well as through asset financing. This means, wholesalers are willing to go the extra mile to ensure customer do get what they need.
Nouzab Fareed
Fijian Holdings Group CEO
It is difficult for me to say for sure that Fiji as a whole will exceed this figure but I certainly believe that with the current business confidence it is possible provided that various Government departments that are critical to the expansion of the economy work tirelessly to process applications etc in an efficient and timely manner. I believe this is one of the biggest issues affecting business growth today and although most Ministries are training staff to become more customer centric, this paradigm shift is going to take time. Until it does, we will not be able to reach our true potential.
From a purely tourism-related focus, I do believe we will exceed 4.3% growth in 2015 and I am basing this on the numbers we have seen come through the marina so far this year as well as the pre-bookings that we have for visiting yachts. The yachting industry grew by 37% in 2014 and we expect to see this growth continue through the 2015 season and beyond.
Nigel Skeggs
Port Denarau Marina CEO
The rate of growth we have experienced after elections is quite encouraging because we haven’t seen that kind of growth in the building sector which is doing great now with upmarket building. The other area is the tourism development. In Nadi – we have seen a lot of people have started work on their project which was held for so long. Tourism surely looks positive. We will see more investment by the end of the year and the future looks quite positive. With the rate of development – there will be lot of pressure on Government to provide services.
Abbas Ali
Fantasy Island Developer
I think that are a lot of macro drivers that are helping the Fijian economy. In the short term, the fall in energy prices, the increase in terms of tourism in this country are too quite significant areas of growth. I am not an expert on Fiji but I think those macro drivers are going to continue to grow in the future so that should be positive for Fijian growth.
Michael Hawker
Business leader