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The governments of Fiji and Australia have been urged to engage in talks to avoid any effect on trade brought by their diplomatic row.
The Fiji-Australia Business Council, which has over 120 member companies, said that it “deeply regrets” the expulsion of the Australian High Commissioner, James Batley, by the Fiji Government yesterday.
In respect of the Australia Fiji relationship, the FABC said that while the government to government relationship could not be described as fully “normalised”, the FABC was encouraged by recent improvements at some levels of that relationship.
“It is the hope of the FABC that any damage to the bilateral relationship between the Australian and Fiji governments this represents and the possible repercussions this may have on trade will be overcome through further dialogue and engagement,” it adds.
Since 1986, the FABC has played a major role in helping to shape and grow business and trade relations between Fiji and Australia.
According to the FABC, the bi-lateral trade relationship between Australia and Fiji is currently estimated to exceed AUD 2 Billion.
