Greater impact on businesses
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BUSINESSES in Fiji found impact of lockdown, poor cashflow and labour issues more of a challenge compared with other Pacific Islands across 2021.
However the second half of the year saw businesses in Fiji increasingly pivoted to selling and doing more online and diversifying products in order to reduce cost and damage to their business.
A recent report released by the Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) The PTI Pacific Business Monitor 2021 - Fiji Focus Report – revealed that in comparison with the Pacific Islands overall, more businesses in Fiji called for financial support, and support to diversify their business, while less called for support reviewing and updating their service offering.
In a media release the PTI New Zealand’s trade commissioner Glynis Miller said the lost income from the years of closed international borders and health crisis outbreaks created economic pressure in Fiji throughout 2021.
“As with most businesses across the Blue Pacific, Fiji businesses were exposed to the same vulnerabilities caused by prolonged international border closures, stifled supply chains, exorbitant freight costs impacting cash flow and of course, the uncertainties of an end to the pandemic. Furthermore, Fiji’s economy is linked in many ways to international tourism, not only in Fiji tourism services and sales but in airport taxes and acting as a major global stopover destination. Close to half of the country’s GDP hinges on foreign tourists arriving by air.
“2021 saw the reopening of Fiji’s international borders for the first time in two years, while the nation simultaneously faced a health crisis as COVID-19 cases surged. The resilience shown by business leaders and local consumers in Fiji must be commended and support from the international community bolstered.
“Positively, our report shows that at the end of 2021, 84 per cent of Fijian businesses were confident in survival. It’s critical that we work together providing tangible support to increase business confidence for Fiji’s private sector,” Ms Miller said.
The report found that 61 per cent of businesses in Fiji had faced a significant decline in revenue towards the end of 2021, compared with 51 per cent in the Pacific Islands overall.
It said the data suggested this decline in revenue may correlate to the increasing challenges faced by Fiji business operators, including the impact of closed international borders and in-country lockdowns because of COVID-19.
Data presented in the report showed that in early 2021, the extent and severity of COVID-19 was 13 per cent more severe in Fiji than for the Pacific Islands overall and as the year progressed however, this figure consistently improved. It also revealed that the extent and severity of COVID-19 on Fiji businesses decreased across the course of 2021, with 95 per cent reporting a negative impact in the first half of the year, and this figure consistently decreasing to 74 per cent by November, in line with the Pacific Islands average.
Furthermore it highlighted that the operational status of Fiji businesses was more disrupted than the Pacific islands overall, with 21 per cent remaining closed towards the end of the year compared with 16 per cent of Pacific respondents overall.
The year 2021 saw consistent disruption to the operational status of Fiji businesses whereby by the end of the year, 79 per cent of Fiji businesses reported their status as operational, compared with the Pacific Islands average of 84 per cent.
On a positive note business confidence among Fiji business operators grew considerably across 2021, with Fiji businesses more confident towards the end of the year than Pacific Islands overall. The end of the year saw 84 per cent of business decisionmakers in Fiji reporting confidence of businesses survival, compared with 80 per cent for the Pacific Islands overall.