Minister for Commerce and Industry, Railways, Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Government of India; Shri Piyush Goyal,
Fellow Honorable Ministers and Chairman of the Presidential Committee,
President, CII and CEO and Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited; Mr T V Narendran, and
Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Bula vinaka, good evening and good day to you all.
It is indeed a pleasure for me to be joining this virtual meeting today. It is most heartening that despite the varying time zones that we are in, all of us have made it a priority to be at this forum.
We are meeting in an extraordinary time. Confronted by a crisis as yet unprecedented in recent memory, we find ourselves at a crossroads of sorts. The crisis has tested us to our limits, and has forced us to make hard decisions. However, I must say that this pandemic has also enabled us to adapt to new norms and perhaps even embrace and adopt new technologies, which now has become crucial in the road to recovery.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, we convene in the midst of the greatest economic crisis that we have ever faced. That doesn’t even begin to describe the fallout. This is a health, social and humanitarian crisis the likes of which we have never seen. The impact is undeniable.
We have experienced the largest contraction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). With the economic lifeline of tourism and service sectors ruptured, most of us have experienced unprecedented double-digit contractions in GDP. The lasting ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic have created a huge financing shortfall within our economies.
Around the world, in nations of all sizes, people are out of work, farmers have lost access to markets, supply chains have been disrupted. But due to our remoteness, the small domestic markets, and our exposure to climate risks, those impacts are all intensified.
Under the economic crunch of the pandemic, the pressure on our expenditure is mounting. The urgent question that needs to be addressed today, is how we stop that devastation from permanently scarring our development.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This situation has posed as a major wake-up call for all of us to re-think and re-align our mode of operations and priority areas.
I’m confident that all of you will agree with me that in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts across the globe have been focused on three fronts. First, to safeguard human lives and minimise fatalities; Second, to ensure that the livelihoods of our people are protected: Third, bringing normalcy into day to day life and economic activity.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Like a number of countries in Asia and the Pacific, the Fijian economy is dependent on the tourism sector. For the first quarter of 2021, destinations around the world welcomed 180 million fewer international arrivals compared to the first quarter of last year. Asia and the Pacific continued to suffer the lowest levels of activity with a 94% drop in international arrivals over the three-month period.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Fijian economy is forecasted to decline by another 4.1% this year, following the 15.7% decline in 2020. Our recovery is heavily dependent on vaccination of at least 80% of the targeted population.
We cannot look to history for a ready-made response to COVID-19. Killer diseases like SARS, H1N1 and Ebola never descended on humanity like the coronavirus. The worst economic hardship of the global financial crisis of 2009 was outpaced by COVID in a matter of weeks.
We all need to adapt and allow for change to lead the way we work and live. As Governments we have to develop innovative policies and strategies that will allow business recovery and people to continue earning a livelihood.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This Summit is a perfect example of collaboration between development partners and economies being resilient. Maintaining contact, and promoting understanding, between countries and peoples remains a crucial foundation of international diplomatic/trade relationships. The pandemic continues around the world, but we have seen that this does not stop us from working, trading, and talking together.
When the world is either continuing its battle with COVID-19 or is slowly opening up, such regional integration is most needed. Regional integration projects around the world could help countries jointly meet the challenges of COVID-19.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Whilst we are dealing with unprecedented challenges presented to us by COVID-19, we should not forget that even in normal times, the global trade environment faced serious risks from unilateral actions and reactions. These have led to debilitating implications on the multilateral trading system. Multilateralism and international cooperation were being increasingly called into question.
The proliferation of regional trade agreements, which often excluded small island developing nations, like Fiji. Because our market capacity does not provide bigger countries an incentive to include us. There is already a whole web of bilateral and regional free trade agreements emerging in different regions.
Given our small size, it remains a challenge for Fiji to be knitted into the bigger trading blocs, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP TPP) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The resistance that geography imposes on trade has been a long outstanding issue and trade intensity is strongly linked to geographical distance. Due to connectivity and distance, Fiji and the Pacific has unique needs and is at risk of being left behind by the current shifts in global trends.
For this reason, Fiji strongly believes that this Indo-Pacific Forum provides the opportunity to launch further discussion on forming a formal trade and economic group. A group that looks at investment, trade and development matters. There could be a regional trade and economic instrument that can guide our shared vision for prosperity.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Having said all of the above, I firmly believe that events such as this, are a pinnacle of working in collaboration and creating a win-win situation, which is the way forward for all of us.
Following this virtual meeting, we must emerge with a mutually agreed prosperous roadmap, based on the foundation of the key concepts of Re-engineering, Re-designing and Innovation.
Our presence here today illuminates our strong partnership and Fiji is committed to re-engagement and re-definition of our international relations.
This is an opportune time for fellow nations to convene and jointly front the common challenges faced by the world, not only through our commonalities such as the pandemic, but also other equally critical issues such as Climate Change, and market access.
We all are equally aware of the wrath of natural disasters and technical and non-tariff barriers the small island developing states such as Fiji tend to face. These atrocities dissuade us to achieve our full potential in the international arena, which we have proven through many platforms including our championship in Climate Change Forum of COP 23. Whereby, we had introduced “Talanoa” initiative, allowing for discussions to happen on equal level amongst all levels of participating countries.
Coming back to today’s event, if such platforms can lead to development to Trade Blocs, which provide “small voices with immense potential”, the much needed equal footing, only then, we can declare this Summit a success.
I must reiterate, that in this turbulent time, the only certainty is uncertainty that we face. Hence, in order to overcome that challenge before us, we need to be steadfast, we need to be unified, and committed towards re-designing and resilience, in designing the new normal.
Vinaka vakalevu and Thank you.