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The President of Fiji’s Textile, Clothing and Footwear says the independent members of the country’s wages council are not independent and as a result employers were facing hard times.
Kalpesh Solanki made the comment during a question and answer session after his presentation at the Fiji Australia Business Council meeting at the Radisson Resort on Denarau Island.
“The Wages Council is supposed to be a three-sided council with employers, employees and independents and because the independents are not independent – employers continue to be pushed aside,” he said.
Solanki said the past three months had been traumatic since wages orders were usually against employers and unless this situation fixed there would be issues with the industry’s sustainability and survival.
On the industry itself, Solanki – a director of Ranjit Garments – said there were several critical success factors.
“These include continuous improvement in quality standards, increasing value for customers in support of production activity, build relationships up and down the supply chain, striving for competitive pricing and achieving best practices in manufacturing,” he said.
Solanki said the vision for Fiji’s TCF industry was for it to become one of world’s leading TCF goods suppliers, have a strong branding awareness, to become the industry of choice for career and earning a living in Fiji and to have recognition and funding from the Government.
Before this could happen, he said, there were threats to the industry to be considered.
These were: Increasing competition from China, India and other DC/LCD low cost countries, the market access advantage being reduced as Australian/New Zealand import tariffs dropped, a faulty/negative customer perception of Fiji’s TCF industry, the increasing cost of raw materials, exchange losses with weakening Australian and New Zealand dollars and reduced demand in export market because of the depressed economic climate.
Despite this, Solanki said, there were opportunities which included improved market access, expansion into new markets – Hawaii & USA, the rejuvenation of the TCF Council of Fiji with additional roles, strategic partnerships with the Government, the Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji and the Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau.
He said the industry suffered because of some weaknesses which included low productivity and high labour costs, having to source raw materials from overseas, freight/logistics constraints and negative perceptions of the industry.
Its strengths, Solanki said, included an English-speaking workforce, low order quantity requirements, quick turnaround, good quality and competitive prices and minimal red tape with Customs and freight.
The Fiji TCF Council President said negative perceptions from neighbours Australia and New Zealand did not help the industry.
Such perceptions, he said, included the political instability in Fiji, scepticism towards quality of Fiji-made product, a perception that Fiji isn’t productive and low awareness of Fiji’s capabilities.
Solanki said the situation facing Fiji’s TCF industry has slowly being improved because of several recent developments.
These included a $3 million AusAID-funded training & productivity Support Program running from 2007-2009, a support program which aims to make Fiji’s TCF Industry more competitive & sustainable, a 3-way alliance between AusAID, TCF Industry & TPAF in 2009 and oppportunities with Hawaii and West Coast USA markets.
