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 | The Chief Executive Officer of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, Mr Jitoko Tikolevu, delivers his keynote address at the Fiji Economy Update in Suva. |
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The University of the South Pacific facilitated two successful Fiji Economy Updates around the country to bring together research outputs on various aspects on the Fiji economy in an attempt to assist policy-makers to make informed policy decisions.
The Economy Updates, which were organised by the University’s School of Economics, were held in Suva and Nadi on the 2nd and 5th of October respectively.
This provided an opportunity for academic researchers, policymakers, and the general public to contribute to the discussions on Fiji’s economic issues.
The Head of the USP’s School of Economics, Professor Saqib Jafarey, explained that the flagship event demonstrated the School’s commitment to advancing economic policy-making in the region by facilitating discussion and dialogue between academics and policymakers.
He made these remarks in the context of having observed that USP’s influence and participation in shaping policy in its own region considerably exceeded that of even some of the world’s most famous universities.
The annual event attracted a wide range of speakers from different sectors of Fiji including government officials, academics, and representatives of international organisations.
In the welcome session at the Economy Update in Suva, the Vice-Chancellor and President of the USP, Professor Rajesh Chandra called on representatives from the different sectors to use the opportunity to make input and have free and constructive discussions concerning Fiji’s economy.
“We are very excited by updates of this nature and by the partnership that has been created between the work that the University does and the work that the Government and communities do so that we see value in each other’s work,” he added.
The Vice-Chancellor welcomed the large turnout at the event and thanked members of the various sectors for showing their keen interest to actively participate in the discussions.
The keynote address was delivered by the Chief Executive Officer of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, Mr Jitoko Tikolevu, who revealed that Fiji’s economy and revenue growth was progressing well.
While noting a nine percent increase in revenue growth for 2012, Mr Tikolevu said, this did not correlate with the increase in real GDP growth of 2.7 percent forecasted for this year.
"There have been some inconsistencies with the growth in real GDP and revenue growth. Despite the natural disaster this year and major reforms taking place, revenue growth remains very strong," he explained.
He added that the hotel industry, construction and government were consistently contributing to GDP growth and revenue growth in the country.
Mr Tikolevu believes Fiji could be considered a tax haven. This, he stated was because Fiji was not a heavily taxed economy with very competitive tax rates when compared to other countries.
He expects the recent tax reforms by Government to stimulate further growth for Fiji.
The Economy Updates in Suva and Nadi consisted of the following sessions:
• Economic Survey of Fiji;
• Macroeconomic Policy and its Consequences;
• Sectoral Issues; and
• Poverty, Social Welfare and Housing.
Panel discussions on Fiji’s Macroeconomic and Growth Performance, and Societal Developments, Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were also part of the programme.
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