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The garment industry is aiming to contribute F$150 million annual export to the Fiji economy, and employ over 6000 people within the next three years.
This was revealed by Kalpesh Solanki, president of the TFC Council of Fiji, in his address at last night’s launch of the industry’s new marketing campaign called “Make it in Fiji.”
“’Make it in Fiji’ is a simple yet compelling call to action to encourage potential buyers in Australia, New Zealand and USA to make Fiji their preferred source of supply for textile, clothing and footwear products,” Solanki told invited guests at the launch.
“The use of this slogan and its logo will be administered through TCF Council of Fiji. For TCF companies to use it, they will have to be a financial member of the Council and also have successfully completed the accreditation process. A question that arises is how does Fiji benefit from all this? Well, we aim to increase total annual TCF exports to over F$150 million and to employ over 6000 people in the industry within the next three years,” Solanki said.
According to a paper by Donovan Storey, Fiji’s garment industry had seen a meteoric rise immediately after the coup in 2000 and at one point was employing up to 20,000 workers in over 100 factories in the country, accounting for an estimated 28 percent of local weekly waged employment.
Although this status had gradually dwindled, there was call for the recognition of its importance as being still one of the country main sources of employment.
“First, the importance of the role that Fiji’s TCF industry plays in poverty alleviation must be recognized,” Solanki said.
“There is a lingering negative perception that the industry ‘creates’ poverty. But I strongly disagree with that. In fact, the industry plays a very critical role in breaking people out of the poverty cycle,” Solanki said.
“The industry employs just over 4000 people of which 80 percent are women. Prior to joining the industry, most of these workers would be living in extreme poverty. Their employment in the industry gives them a steady source of income, protection of labour laws, skills dignity and empowerment.
“Their lives as well as their families’ lives are improved as a result and the chances to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty are greatly increased. Hence with the right support and policies, the TCF industry can continue to be an important channel to help towards poverty alleviation in Fiji by creating jobs, and economic growth.”
