Interviews
Fijian garment sector poised for good growth
18 Dec '10
2 min read
Fiji Island – the hub of south-west pacific, from many years have been banking on sugar and textile exports for its economy. For Fiji, with GDP (2009) approximate $3.498 billion, and total industry contributing 30.4% (2009), the garment sector continues to be crucial in a number of areas: in terms of its role in economic growth; employment creation; foreign investment and skill development.
Though beaten up by global economic conditions, as well as flash floods in early 2009 that caused extensive damage to infrastructure and agriculture, Fiji has pulled the socks up to run on growth track with a bet on its garments industry that has been successful enough to drive interest from number of investor countries, in particularly Australia. Fiji is all set up for estimated exports of near $100 million, this year. President of Textile, Clothing and Footwear Council-Fiji, Mr Kalpesh Solanki in a word with News team at Fibre2fashion, revealed that in a recent exhibit in Melbourne, importers from Australia expressed their keen desire to import garments made in Fiji for the Australian market.
Further, encouraging the investor community, Mr Solanki explains why they may invest in Fiji, by stating- “Our industry undergone a successful transformation over the past 4 years that will benefit our clients including potential clients. We are fully committed to focus on service. We focus on flexibility. We focus on small, customized orders. We practice high degree of social responsibility. We speak clear and fluent English. And most of all we deliver quality. For any international company that needs superior quality at competitive prices with great service, clear communications and that requires social accountability concerning how their products were manufactured, then I say that you NEED to 'Make it in Fiji'!”
Sounding grateful to AusAID, Mr Solanki also added- “With the financial support and assistance of AusAID, an industry structural adjustment and support program was established to redefine, regenerate and retool Fiji's garment industry from bottom up.”
Getting more informative, he specified that under this program twelve of Fiji's major manufacturers participated. The program had comprehensively addressed every major element of operations viz Production Efficiency and Engineering, Quality Assurance and standards, Human Resources Development & Training, and Occupational Health, Safety and Social Responsibility.
Besides Australia, UK, US, New Zealand and Japan are also vital clientele for Fiji Garments.
Though beaten up by global economic conditions, as well as flash floods in early 2009 that caused extensive damage to infrastructure and agriculture, Fiji has pulled the socks up to run on growth track with a bet on its garments industry that has been successful enough to drive interest from number of investor countries, in particularly Australia. Fiji is all set up for estimated exports of near $100 million, this year. President of Textile, Clothing and Footwear Council-Fiji, Mr Kalpesh Solanki in a word with News team at Fibre2fashion, revealed that in a recent exhibit in Melbourne, importers from Australia expressed their keen desire to import garments made in Fiji for the Australian market.
Further, encouraging the investor community, Mr Solanki explains why they may invest in Fiji, by stating- “Our industry undergone a successful transformation over the past 4 years that will benefit our clients including potential clients. We are fully committed to focus on service. We focus on flexibility. We focus on small, customized orders. We practice high degree of social responsibility. We speak clear and fluent English. And most of all we deliver quality. For any international company that needs superior quality at competitive prices with great service, clear communications and that requires social accountability concerning how their products were manufactured, then I say that you NEED to 'Make it in Fiji'!”
Sounding grateful to AusAID, Mr Solanki also added- “With the financial support and assistance of AusAID, an industry structural adjustment and support program was established to redefine, regenerate and retool Fiji's garment industry from bottom up.”
Getting more informative, he specified that under this program twelve of Fiji's major manufacturers participated. The program had comprehensively addressed every major element of operations viz Production Efficiency and Engineering, Quality Assurance and standards, Human Resources Development & Training, and Occupational Health, Safety and Social Responsibility.
Besides Australia, UK, US, New Zealand and Japan are also vital clientele for Fiji Garments.
Fibre2fashion News Desk-India
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