Fiji’s inclusion in the Indo Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), a new international trade framework spearheaded by the United States, has given it access to some of the world’s big economic powerhouses and the opportunities they present.
Minister for Trade Manoa Kamikamica said Fiji joining IPEF was one of the highlights of the ministry’s work last year.
“It was an initiative of the previous government but in consultation with the ministry and also with the former minister, we’ve decided to maintain the invitation from (US President) Joe Biden to create IPEF,” he said.
“It’s a group of 14 countries including Fiji and together they represent 40 per cent of the world’s GDP.
“So, little Fiji was actually involved in this significant economic club in the world and what that means is we are now in discussion with some very significant economic powerhouse economies quite directly with the view to look at opportunities for further economic development.”
Mr Kamikamica said this had never happened in the past and gave credit to the previous government for its initial involvement.
“We’ve managed to complete that agreement in a very short time and Fiji is now the first country to ratify one component of its four components — the supply chain pillar, which is the second pillar of IPEF, has already been ratified by the Fiji government and we were the first to do so out of the 14 economies.
“From that, we will see a lot more economic engagement,” he said.
Last year, Fiji’s Parliament unanimously approved the IPEF Supply Chain Agreement, a significant milestone for the Trade Ministry.
The Agreement is designed to enable IPEF partners to work together collaboratively to make supply chains more resilient, efficient, transparent, diversified, secure and inclusive, which IPEF partners will achieve through information exchange, sharing of best practices, business matchmaking, collective response to disruptions and supporting labour rights.
