THE purpose of attracting foreign direct investment is to create quality employment and joint venture opportunities for local firms as well as providing access to capital.
And while Investment Fiji is helping the nation identify its economic benefits and business opportunities, it also remains focused on increasing the quality and quantum of foreign direct and domestic investment.
The investment arm’s chief executive officer, Godo Muller-Teut, highlighted this while speaking on the theme “Building Investor Confidence for a Sustainable Economy” at the 2017 Better Business Conference at the Holiday Inn Suva yesterday.
Mr Muller-Teut said foreign direct investment not only generated foreign exchange reserves but allowed skill transfer, transfer of technology, diffusion of ideas, and ultimately drives growth and enhances productivity.
“Investors also bring in new technology or upgrade existing technology,” he said.
“These technical and managerial skills way of doing business directly are transferred to local employees.
“The better understanding of investor mind-set allows Investment Fiji to ensure that our efforts are effectively oriented towards successful investment attraction,” he said.
Mr Muller-Teut said inward investment also allowed for knowledge technology and intellectual property transfer.
“This is of particular importance in the agriculture sector where modern production systems, nutrition and livestock will allow for more efficient farming and crop production and thus reduce the dependence on imports,” he said.
Investment Fiji is actively promoting the sectors as identified in the Fiji Trade Policy Framework which was launched in July 2015.
This, Mr Muller-Teut said, included a number of key sectors in the primary industry, textiles, clothing and footwear, tourism and audio visual.
He outlined that Fiji offered many incentives aimed at increasing investor confidence, encouraging innovation, growth and investment.
These include low corporate tax rates, a number of tax free zones and up to 15 year breaks, duty free import of machinery for qualifying investments.
Foreign direct investment for 2015 amounted to $651 million of which 51 per cent concerned re-investments, he said. For 2016, he said equity based foreign direct investment would be expected to reach $393m while re-investments and earnings were expected at $167m.
