Fiji’s ability to diversify the economy was proven during COVID but what is needed is a long-term strategic plan for the nation, says managing partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers and former president of the Fiji Institute of Chartered Accountants (FICA) Jerome Kado.
He said Fiji needed to build on the resilience shown during COVID and develop more blue collar and “green” collar jobs in terms of agriculture and make them more attractive to young people.
Mr Kado also echoed views held by many including Government that Fiji must have a long-term strategic plan.
“I think one of the good lessons that COVID taught us was that despite tourism being dismal, we still survived,” Mr Kado said in an interview with this newspaper during the FICA Congress last weekend.
“So we are a resilient people. It showed that we can diversify and we did diversify. Sadly, COVID forced us to diversify but what it also taught us is that we can’t just sit back and rely on tourism.
“Of course we should support tourism because it supports so many jobs but I think we need to go beyond that and look at how we can build up.
“If you look at what happened during COVID, all of us had relatives going back to the land to plant, land that lay idle for years were suddenly being used. So, it shows that we can do it.
“We need to build on that and look at ways we can diversify in sustainable ways and not just for show. So I think we need to develop more blue collar and “green” collar jobs in terms of agriculture and we need to make it more attractive to our young people.”
Mr Kado said it was important to have a long term plan.
“We have governments that come in every four years, with all due respect to them, they all try their best, but if we were to work together across the country, set longer term strategic plans that both Government and the Opposition buy into, then regardless of who is in government, the people will know that we will have stability.
“Of course there will be changes to plans but there are huge chances for longer term stability.”
He said the fact that Government and the Opposition were able to come together for a panel discussion during the congress was a good sign.
“Hopefully we can reflect that onto the national stage and get the buy-in and the level of commitment from the respective bodies within Government to create certainty for the future in terms of moving forward so that we’re working together as Team Fiji,” Mr Kado said.
