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The Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau (FTIB) is optimistic that investment figures will rebound in 2010 on the back of a recovering global economy says chief executive officer Annie Rogers.
Rogers told FijiLive that while 2009 figures are yet to be released, the FTIB registered 80 major projects last year, a drop in both value and employment numbers.
“It was quite good but in terms of the number of projects we were down quite considerably in the previous year,” said Rogers.
By comparison, in 2006, 250 projects were implemented worth $252.8million, creating 4744 jobs.
In 2007, a total of 121 projects were implemented at an investment value of $114 million, creating 1236 jobs.
In 2008, the number of projects implemented rose again by 160 from the previous year to 281. These projects were worth $623.8 million and were predicted to create 2262 jobs.
Rogers attributed the drop in the implementation of projects last year to the global recession and the rise in the cost of registration.
“But given that this year we’re expecting the world economy to grow by 3.9 per cent after the contraction of 0.8 of last year and the fact that all our major trading partners are expected to grow quite well this year, I’m very optimistic that things will definitely turn around,” Rogers said.
