Trade between Fiji and New Zealand is reportedly at an all-time high with the latest count for fiscal year ending June 2023 at $NZ1.23 billion ($F 1.64b).
The New Zealand High Commission’s Trade Commissioner Pacific David Dewar shared the promising data at the Fiji New Zealand Business Council’s most recent cocktail event at the Paradiso Restaurant and Bar in Suva last week.
“Trade between New Zealand and Fiji has, statistically speaking, never been stronger,” Mr Dewar said.
“I think the previous high was $1.1 billion (NZ) around the 2018 mark. A very large part of this is actually because of a huge increase in Fijian trade to New Zealand, Fijian exports to New Zealand.”
“On the goods side, (exports are) around 30 per cent higher than what they were prior to COVID-19 which is a really strong testament, I think, to a lot of the people in this room, particularly Fiji’s agriculture and manufacturing sectors,” he said, addressing the various business representatives and entrepreneurs in the room.
Mr Dewar highlighted the potential for further growth citing that in addition to the trading of goods having experienced a significant rise, services trade is reportedly still in a period of post pandemic recovery.
“I’ve talked about the goods trade but, actually, the services trade, the traditional mainstay of the Fiji-New Zealand trade relationship, with tourism and the like; that still has not reached pre-pandemic levels,” he said.
With the relatively recent reopening of borders for New Zealand the outlook for tourism to Fiji is positive. With the trade of both goods and services between Fiji and New Zealand on the up, Mr Dewar believes Fiji can expect a surge of potential business investment and trade missions from New Zealand in the coming year.
