Nz Capturing Fiji’S Tongan Market

New Zealand’s exporters are ousting Fiji from the Tongan market because New Zealand’s prices for many commodities are cheaper than Fiji’s even though the goods have to travel three times the distance.

This opinion was voiced in May by a leading Tongan businessman, Mr John Fua, managing director of the Jones group of companies in Tonga.

If the current trend continued, Mr Fua warned Fiji, New Zealand would replace her as the main trading partner and supplier for many of the South Pacific countries.

“I personally see trade between Tonga and Fiji lessening, ”

Mr Fua said. “New Zealand is becoming too competitive.”

He said New Zealand was able to supply often more cheaply many of the goods which Tonga usually obtained from Fiji.

“Fiji has a great potential market in Tonga for things such as timber, for which there is great demand in Tonga, and many other products, ” he said.

“But its prices cannot compare with those we can get in New Zealand.

“And New Zealand is three times further away and has higher freight charges to meet.

“Fiji is far more convenient to Tonga as far as shipping and other factors are concerned , but too many of its products

are just too overpriced.

“Fiji's sugar remains competitive, but that is one of the few commodities which does.

“Other islands on the fringe of the Fiji area could start giv ing Fiji away as a supplier of their needs because everything is so expensive.

“Tonga’s future is far more in tune with New Zealand than with Fiji because of this. Fiji is just not competitive. ”

Mr Fua said, he could see no easy solution to the problem for Tonga.

The South Pacific Bureau of Economic Co-operation had tried to rectify the situation, “but, what happens on the SPEC board does not always come to reality in the real world. ”

But he said he knew of no plans on Tonga’s part to approach Fiji to lower its prices, especially not on the part of the business

community.

“We are in business, and not in politics,” he said.