PACIFIC QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE WORKSHOP
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY INDUSTRY, TRADE AND TOURISM, MR. SHAHEEN ALI
Location: Nadi, Fiji
Director Programmes and Initiatives, PIFs – Mr. Zarak Khan,
Chief Executive Officer, CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality – Mr. Deryck Omar,
Senior Consultant, Physikalisch-Technishce Bundesanstalt – Mr. Ulrich Diekmann,
Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation for the Pacific – Mr. Christoph Wagner,
Executive Director, Enhanced Integrated Framework – Mr. Ratnakar Adhikari,
Representatives from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Senior Officials from the Pacific Region,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Bula Vinaka and very good morning to you all. I wish to extend a special welcome to all visitors to Fiji.
It is a pleasure to be here today to open the workshop on the Pacific Quality Infrastructure. This workshop is of particular interest to Fiji and the Region. I would like to thanks PIFS for this initiative and getting everyone here. There is a need for this type of forums in the Region, as our economies mature and our trade and economic relations with the world grows.
Today we will discuss the need for having well developed National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) to provide policy and institutional framework that establishes and implements standardisation, that includes conformity assessment services, metrology and accreditation. All stakeholders (apart from Government) have a role in designing, developing and implementing an effective NQI.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Failure to meet quality requirements undermines our export competitiveness. It also affects our ability to enjoy a healthy and safe existence. The protection of our natural environment and its resources is compromised, together with our ability to withstand natural disasters, and guarantee fair treatment to consumers.
To address these issues, this workshop is timely as it seeks to strengthen and develop quality infrastructure system in the Pacific.
Quality Infrastructure System is the first step for improving the quality of goods and services on a national scale. It helps stimulate demand, which stimulates businesses and the economy as a whole. For the Pacific, such a system will ensure that goods and services produced meet the minimum quality requirements that is demanded by the market. It also enables Pacific products and services to remain competitive in the global market.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Traditionally it was widely accepted that standardisation was the domain of developed nations, whilst developing nation like ours needed to be realistic and only enforce standards that we can afford. Ladies and Gentlemen, as we will see today, developing countries like ours can ill-afford not have standards, metrology and quality infrastructure in place
We have seen that non-compliance of standards has led to major catastrophes around the world. The most alarming example was, devasting fire of the 120-unit Grenfell Tower, where the use of cheap materials resulted in a deadliest structural fire in the United Kingdom (UK) since 1988, and the worst UK residential fire since the second world war. The fire, which started by a malfunctioning fridge-freezer and spread rapidly through the building’s cladding substandard.
This example illustrates the importance of standards and how lives can depend on its compliance and enforcement. This is not just a Government endeavor but everyone must do the right thing, especially the private sector.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tropical Cyclone Winston was the second strongest cyclone ever recorded and the strongest in the southern hemisphere. Apart from the 42 lives lost, it destroyed and damaged about 30,000 houses and 495 schools and wiped out about a third of our GDP in terms of damages.
With climate change on the rise, such climatic events will become more frequent. This means we as stakeholders charged with the important responsibility to establish and implement quality standards should remain vigilant and keep improving this infrastructure to meet the challenges of the future.
TC Winston thought us the value of compliying with our National Building Code, adhering to our building material standards and having in place a mechanism to continuously improve our Quality Assurance infrastructure.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Resources (both technical and financial) is critical factor when discussing quality infrastructure in the Pacific Region. One way to address this is to take a Regional approach towards strengthening our quality infrastructure. We need to build on the specific competencies of each country and share those expertise and resources.
For example, in Papua New Guinea (PNG), has strong competencies in national accreditation, which can be used by the rest of Pacific to attain accreditation of our respective labs. Whilst, in Fiji, the region can use the expertise we have in Standards and Metrology – and perhaps make use of our Labs for legal metrology.
Through this approach, we will not duplicate establishing the same infrastructure in all Pacific Island Countries (PIC’s). This will reduce the cost and make the best use of expertise of each country in the region.
Ladies and gentlemen,
One key take away would be, that by focusing on developing our quality infrastructure Fiji and other countries in the Pacific, which face unique challenges, stronger trading nations and better protect and enhance the safety of their citizens and consumers.
I hope that this 1-week long discussions can help guide this work and inspire further progress quality infrastructure that promotes economic prosperity and people-centred development. I firmly believe how we respond to this need will be one of the defining challenges of our time.
So, I look forward to a thought-provoking and forward-looking dialogue today and throughout this week.
With those words, it gives me great pleasure to officially open the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Imitative Workshop and have a very productive week.
Vinaka Vakalevu. Thank you.