change is already happening. we should change when we are in control rather than it being forced down our throats. networking is another medium that will help change behaviours. your council can play a very important role in sharing best practices, what works and more importantly what does not work. but i still think that you can do more than that. we have some successful business people in this council. i note that some will be sharing their experiences today. i challenge them to take a greater leadership role in supporting and guiding our business people. a mentoring system can work wonders. a system of hands - on - assistance that actually help individual cases could also be developed. how effective is the council on lobbying? cultivate alliances and collaboration with institutions and organisations. how strong is your collaboration with the other business councils in fiji – the fiji australia business council, fiji new zealand business council and others that are in existence? don ’ t stop locally. reach out globally. information is important. having a website is an integral part of the business. i note that the council does not have a website. perhaps you should and use it as a medium to assist members that seek your help. culture and tradition as a race, we have our culture and traditions. we often hear that making money is not a natural part of the fijian way of life. we all know the drawbacks of the modern “ kerekere ” system. we all complain about the burden of “ soli ” and “ oga ”. the “ vakavanua ” system now demands liquidity. we are well known for our friendliness. relationship commands a premium value. maintaining traditional ties are paramount. working together is an integral part of our culture. do these values conflict with the commercial and business culture? on face value some seem to be. but on closer examination, perhaps they are not. perhaps the extremes are where the conflict is greatest. for instance, friendliness is a big plus in business as long as you do not give away the business jewels. working as a team is encouraged in organisations and businesses as long as it does not shut out individual initiatives. the “ oga ” is our obligation but we should keep them under control so we don ’ t spend what we don ’ t have. i firmly believe that we can turn these cultures around to our business advantage through leadership, communication and more importantly education. conclusion our economic situation is grim. many of our problems are from offshore and we do not have any control over

these two countries. our export to europe is mainly sugar but that is covered under the eu trade agreement and will not be affected. our exports to australia and new zealand will also be dearer as the fiji dollar appreciates against their currencies. this will dampen our competitiveness in these markets. in summary, our exports which are already underperforming will face even more challenges. • imports will be cheaper from australia and new zealand as their currencies weakens. as a result, imports from these two countries will rise. we import about 40 percent of our total imports from these two countries. on the other hand, imports will be dearer from the us and japan. that means that cars and white goods will become dearer. a strong us dollar will partially offset the drop in oil prices. overall, our import bill which is already rising will rise even more. • tourists from us and japan may now decide to stay at home. the australians and kiwis will find fiji more expansive. the growth in tourism numbers which we are relying on to take us out of this economic decline will soften. • remittances which have been falling in the last two years will fall further. • foreign and local investors may defer investment decisions. • inflation will come down as oil prices fall. economic conditions ladies and gentleman, the economic impact of the financial crisis will further weaken our economy. we came out of 2007 with a deep decline of over six and half percent. our projections are that the economy will not grow any higher than 2 percent in the next two years. moreover, these projections may be revised downwards due to the global financial crisis. at this rate it will take at least four years to get back to where we were in 2006. investment has fallen to 15 percent of gdp when we need to be exceeding 20 percent. our balance of payments has been under stress for some time and this stress will now mount. inflation has jumped to over 9 percent, the worse in twenty years. unemployment is rising. poverty is worsening. hence, taking that scenario into account, one would be forgiven in labeling this situation as a crisis. but i would not go as far as call it an economic crisis for the simple reason that we do not need international assistance to bail us out. that is my crude definition of a crisis. when a country is in a crisis it means that the international monetary fund is at their doorstep. fortunately, we are not in that position now.