UN Resident Representative, Mr Sanaka Samrasinha
Chairman of the Suva City Council – Mr Isikeli Tikoduadua
Special Administrators – Suva City Council
Distinguished Participants
Ladies and Gentlemen
Bula Vinaka and good morning to you all.
I am pleased to open the Workshop by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP), in partnership with the Suva City Council on “Building Urban economic resilience during and after COVID-19”.
I understand Suva is one of the four cities chosen to pilot this initiative in the Asia and Pacific region. We hope our experiences and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic will provide valuable insight into the challenges that we, the Pacific, face.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
While every country across the globe has been affected, the extent of impacts vary. And this is something we should recognise. This means some of us are more vulnerable than others and the policy responses for recovery will differ too.
Implementation plans for economic recovery must take into account the size of our economies, and the different levels of development in the region. It must also consider geographical isolation and distance from key markets, healthcare facilities and resources, and most importantly, dependence on one or limited sectors.
While the impact of COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented, we must not forget what we in the Pacific deal with on a daily basis – climate change. The ever-strengthening cyclones that cause increasing devastation each time, makes building back better more challenging for us.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Given today’s Workshop is premised on information and data sharing, I would like to share how the health and climate crisis has impacted the Fijian economy and how we’ve responded.
The Fijian economy has registered the sharpest economic decline of 19% in 2020, which is equivalent to a loss in GDP of over $2 billion. The prolonged border closure, coupled with the devastating impact of tropical cyclones Yasa, Ana and Bina, has further delayed the rebound of GDP to pre-COVID levels for at least the next 3 years.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Business activities have declined at varying degrees across most sectors. The tourism industry, which once accounted for over a third of the Fijian GDP, has been most affected.
Visitor arrivals in 2020, plummeted by 87% to 147,000 visitors to pre-1990 levels. In the early months of the pandemic, unemployment temporarily spiked to 100,000.
The Fijian Government took immediate and decisive actions to cushion the impact. The policy interventions were delivered through the COVID Response Budget and the 2020-2021 National Budget. These included:
- Unemployment support in partnership with the Fiji National Provident Fund. To date, $216.6 million has been paid to those who have lost their jobs or are on reduced wages. Government has paid out $102 million, and approximately $114.6 million has been withdrawn from FNPF member General Account.
- Approximately $30 million has been given as concessional loans to 5,438 micro, small and medium enterprises, mainly in the agriculture, wholesale and retail, food and hospitality, transportation, manufacturing and other service driven sectors.
- Launch of the Fijian COVID Safe Economic Recovery Framework. Under the Framework, we’ve trialled and implemented safe entry of visitors – both leisure and non-leisure travel. This includes the establishment of various travel bubbles and Vacation in Paradise (VIP) and Blue Lanes, allowing individuals and groups to enter Fiji by air and sea.
In fact, under this Framework, we have allowed businesses in cities and towns to safely re-open. For instance, under the health and safety protocols of the Framework, night clubs have been able to re-model, get back into business and provide employment. I urge the Councils to continue to pivot your recovery plans around this Framework.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
That is just a snapshot of the immediate policy interventions to keep Fiji going at the national level. As the impact of the pandemic on businesses varies, you will also see the impact on municipalities vary.
Whilst there is a downturn in the economic activities in Suva, Nadi town, being a tourism hub and our international gateway has faced the biggest economic losses. We have also witnessed Fijians returning to villages and communities looking for alternate sources of income.
As you go through today’s workshop, it is important to keep in mind that the greatest impact may not be felt in Suva, but in other towns and cities in Fiji. I hope that the learnings from today could be applied to towns, such as Nadi.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We acknowledge the UN, who have been our partners throughout this pandemic. This project shows your continued commitment to assisting Fiji to “build back better”, with a framework for COVID-19 recovery planning. This workshop, and the pilot project, will assist the City of Suva, to put in place an implementation plan for recovery, which will ensure our communities thrive and become stronger.
So, this is an opportune time to get the stakeholders on board, identify the constraints and work towards having a plan to combat those challenges.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I request the UNESCAP and UNDESA to note that nations in the Pacific are different from developing countries in Asia. Our challenges are unique, therefore, the responses should also be unique. The Pacific region needs tailor made Pacific solutions.
The success of this Workshop should not be measured with initial outcomes of the Workshop, that is, information exchange and development of a set of informed recommendations. The ultimate success lies in the realisation of the recommendations.
I urge our UN partners to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Council and the Government to achieve tangible results with impact on the ground. And this needs to be done in a timely manner when the impact of COVID and climate change are at its height and affecting the most vulnerable.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
So in summary if there is a clear roadmap plus resources identified to put plans into action and this is done in good time then we are successful.
With these words, I would like to declare this workshop open to take the first important step.
Vinaka.