Business

Fiji amongst NZ’s top 20 trading partners: Koya

June 20, 2022 4:20 pm

Faiyaz Koya

New Zealand continues to remain one of Fiji’s largest trading partners.

Minister for Commerce and Trade, Faiyaz Koya says prior to the pandemic, the total two-way trade was worth over $898 million.

Fiji exports fresh produce, pharmaceutical products and garments to NZ worth around $162 million annually.

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Koya says Fiji is the only country in the region to be amongst New Zealand’s top 20 trading partners.

“On the Tourism front, New Zealand was Fiji’s second-largest tourist market and one of the fastest-growing sources of international arrivals with over 200,000 Kiwis visiting Fiji in 2019. Inevitably, the pandemic had resulted in a decline in our two-way trade by 9.37 percent, reducing to $813.90 million in 2021.”

Koya says visitor arrivals from NZ declined by 97.9 percent to 532 visitors, and tourism earnings declined by 91.22 percent to $0.4 million.

He adds the government is confident there are opportunities to further secure the country’s economic future by enhancing the trade and investment relations.

The Minister says they look forward to getting the tourism numbers back on track, as both countries continue to remove the travel restrictions.