Book Reviews

Fiji's Anatomy - Statisticians

Have It All Figured Out

When, in 1959, the Burns Com mission inquired into and reported on the population and natural re sources of Fiji it lacked the vital economic and general statistical series with which to formulate forward plans within a comprehensive national accounting framework. Consequently it had to proceed with pragmatic, and indeed practical and sensible, recom mendations on a sectorial basis. At the same time the commission made cogent proposals on development planning as a function and on the need for the statistical information on which to base it. These proposals were not ignored.

That much of the statistical gap has since been filled, is due to Michael Ward’s able work in de veloping the Fiji Bureau of Statistics from rudimentary origins. This new information has been of the greatest value to forward-looking commerce and industry; and its practical appli cation as envisaged by the commis sion is clearly seen in the sixth and latest of the Fiji development plans.

Michael Ward went to Fiji from the Department of Applied Econo mics at Cambridge University to provide technical assistance in de veloping the Fiji statistical services.

His achievements were impressive and this volume, which flows from that experience, is a most welcome addition to the organised public material on Fiji.

The volume, which incorporates most of the statistical output of the bureau, is both more and less than its title promises.

It is a great deal more because it is really a complete survey of this young country. Its cover is historical and geographical, sociological and demographic, agrarian and industrial, political and economic. It incorpor ates through the narrative the full range of statistical material published ay the young Bureau of Statistics. It s a tour de force assembling in an organised and logical sequence every hing available on the anatomy of Fiji.

Although the title doesn’t apply

any such width of horizon or depth of field, its introduction describes it as A case study in development incor porating all the historical and environ mental factors determining the climate for and conditions of invest ment. This includes some digression into general considerations affecting the growth of under-developed coun tries which probably provide a relevant background to the specific circumstances of Fiji. This applies particularly to the two concluding chapters on domestic policy and international policy and their bearing on investment.

On the other hand, it sometimes strays into areas quite outside the scope of the work (e.g., the ques tionable comment on the Upper House in the Independence Constitu tion) and incorporates much irrele vant detail( e.g., the fact that the gutters and drainpipes were not con nected on the house of an agricul tural re-settlement scheme). By and large, however, the survey is com prehensive, well - balanced, and authoritative.

But it is also less than its title promises for it does not tell us nearly enough about investment in Fiji or its role in the country’s past and future development. The chapter on the structure and composition of capital formation in Fiji comprises 16 pages of a 329-page work, and is rather thinly supported by macro statistics. The brush here is very broad. To be sure there is other material on investment—particularly public sector activity interlarded through the work, and there is a brief description of the monetary system and of institutions mobilising savings, but this short and generalised treatment of the core subject is in deed disappointing.

In fairness however, it appears that it is in this area that research and documentation have been weakest, for on p. 257 it is stated that “the majority of the information about the pattern of capital expendi ture by private enterprise in Fiji is based on data collected by the

Bureau of Statistics in two surveys conducted early in 1968 and again in 1969”. Then on p. 262 problems of collection affecting the scope and accuracy of the surveys are described.

The survey is strong on the theme that private enterprise is sensitive to political factors. One cannot disagree with this, but it is doubtful whether in the past these factors have de terred investment in Fiji or do so now. Other factors have undoubtedly been more important, including lack of commercial opportunities, market problems, and commercial risk.

Thus while the Fiji population explosion has caused problems, it has also created the internal market on which to base the secondary and service industries which are needed to raise living levels in Fiji. While the problems of accumulating and mobilising savings do exist, nonethe less there have been considerable accumulations in Fiji, much of which are believed to have been invested abroad. Indeed it was probably such portfolio investment by Fiji’s most successful native company. Morris Hedstrom, which led to its becoming a ripe takeover plum in 1955. Again, the accumulations in the banks which are used in their business outside Fiji should certainly be retained for local use, but it is surely not correct to say (p. 186) that “as branches of over seas banks, the banks in Fiji need not be subject to any local banking policy”, 'Hie effect of the Fiji low-interest policy on these aspects is great and deserves much more substantial treatment than is given it on p. 304.

There is strong reason to suppose that this policy has not been in Fiji’s best interest, if only because of its encouragement of the outflow of capital, which is scarcely the desired effect in a capital-hungry situation.

While foreign investment has developed Fiji’s commerce and indus try, it has inevitably been the subject of accusations of exploitation. But we don’t know what investment there is, nor what profit it reaps, nor its effects on the balance of payment. The table

of registered companies does not indicate how many are controlled abroad. The only known attempt to assess the situation was that by an Australian diplomat who published figures in about 1965 of Australian investment and earnings purporting to show that investment in Fiji earned relatively meagre profits.

Related to this is the matter of local equity in commerce and indus try. Hitherto, the government has not required it and the public seems to have been reluctant to take it. At the same time Fiji’s citizens invest in portfolios abroad. Why?

As to taxation, Mr. Ward makes a good point (p. 294) on estate duty but does not give it the depth of study which it deserves—more than, for example, civil service salaries. In a capital-hungry country it does in deed seem inconsistent to raid and dissipate the hard-won accumulations of individuals upon their death.

Serious inflationary trends and the

effects on them of the demands of public and private investment on scarce resources are really only men tioned in passing. This most pressing problem with which the government has been much concerned is another one deserving more than cursory notice.

All these major aspects of invest ment in Fiji are some of those calling for study in depth which regrettably this volume does not, and probably could not, do. But what it lacks in this area it amply makes up in all others.

This is truly the most authoritative and comprehensive study of Fiji ever produced. It is very well indexed and easily read. It must prove indispens able to anyone concerned with this young and promising country, and is highly recommended.—R. M. Major.

(The Role Of Investment In The

Development Of Fiji. By Michael

Ward. Cambridge University Press. £2.40 np.)