NEWLY-ELECTED president of the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation (FCEF) Eldon Eastgate is ready to work with a more stabilised and solidified secretariat to address hot topics within the organisation pertaining to labour, immigration and the stability of workforces in Fiji.
In an interview following his uncontested win at the FCEF annual general meeting in Suva yesterday, Mr Eastgate said they had their mandates, but they “really” needed to finalise their strategic direction.
He said the way of working had changed and it was now about adaptation and seeing what the global markets were playing onto this little island nation.
“We’ve got pillars within our strategic house, and one of them is definitely to protect, and ultimately, as manufacturers, as an example, for our organisation Essity, we’re really trying to protect local manufacturers,” Mr Eastgate, who is the general manager for Essity’s Pacific operations, said.
“We’re trying to keep jobs local as much as we can. Unfortunately with the migration and immigration issues that we’re facing globally and not just for Fiji, we’re having to adapt and adopt to those changes.
“So working with Government to try and ensure that we can get the speedy recovery of labour forces from other markets to support and sustain businesses locally.
“But also to bolster our own industries within Fiji, supporting a regional network. If we can combine our forces, we can be a much stronger region rather than just as an individual nation.”
Workforce availability, he said was 100 per cent an issue faced by FCEF’s 400 plus members, attributed to migration within organisations within the country and movement outside of the country.
“With all the other fruit picking schemes and so forth that are recurring, there is definitely a fairly large exodus of a combination of a highly skilled workforce and also those without skills.
“It presents an opportunity for us to pivot as a nation. If we can put our heads together from a tripartite perspective, there is certainly an opportunity to improve in this space.”
Mr Eastgate was the vice-president of FCEF for four years prior to this election, and has been involved with the organisation for close to 16 years.
He replaces Vinay Narsey of Narsey’s Plastics Industries Pte Ltd.
Mr Eastgate will chair the first board meeting next Wednesday.
The AGM also elected six new board members: Sandeep Chauhan, Rowena Taito, Karunesh Rao, Michael Spencer, Arvind Maharaj, Himen Chandra.
The board will also vote in its executive committee at the meeting.
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Note: This article was first published under the headline: New boss – Eastgate heads Fiji’s apex private sector body in Page 15 of the print version of The Fiji Times dated Saturday, September 27, 2025
