Economic Growth Needs Change
The Economic growth cannot be achieved without change, innovation, research, science and technology, the TOPEX conference heard yesterday Speaking during the Top Executive (TOPEX) Conference at the Pullman Nadi Bay resort yesterday, Permanent Secretary for Industry, Trade and Tourism Shaheen Ali said there was a need for new industries, new ways of doing things, new focus and customer base.
During the “Innovation for Successful Societies” session, Mr Ali said innovation was vital if countries were to remain ahead in this competitive world.
“Today, Fiji has the fastest broadband speed in the Pacific region. According to the WorldwideBroadband League 2019, which surveys 207 countries, Fiji is ranked first in the Pacific, and has improved 38 ranks since 2017.
“Innovation is crucial for the continued success of a business, organisation or a nation. “Disruptive innovation has proven to be a powerful way of thinking about innovation-driven growth. “No country has developed sustainably without investments in disruptive innovation.
“We need to adopt disruptive innovation at a faster pace.
“We need wider adoption of ecommerce,
we need a national electronic payment platform (apart from M-Paisa), all our homes should have internet run security devices and 5G technology should be introduced faster to accelerate automation.
“Where services and products are accessible to a larger set of people in society, such as M-Paisa – which is a money transfer and bill payment service available in your palm.
“Disruptive innovation is something that Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like Fiji, can benefit from.”.
Mr Ali said through the use of disruptive innovation, one could gain a foothold in market segments where larger countries could not. He added it was more critical for smaller economies to stay ahead of the technology curve. “There is more of an imperative for Small Island Developing States
(SIDS) to diversify their economies and move steadily towards becoming innovation-driven economies.
“SIDS are some of the world’s smallest and remote countries that face a unique set of sustainabledevelopment challenges due to their size, population and often geographical spread.
“They’re also highly vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters and external shocks.
“Whilst Fiji has thrived on traditional sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, emerging sectors such as ICT and renewable energy have over the years proven to contribute to more sustained and allembracing economic growth with opportunity to address these common challenges.”