fores ahead

Ba Industries fores ahead

In November 1995, after two consecu tive years of winning Fiji’s Exporter of the Year Awards in the Building and Industrial Section, Ba Industries Limited was awarded the Prime Minister’s overall exporter of the year prize.

Ba Industries Limited (BIL) - which

manufactures nails, barbed wire, chain link

fencing, rivets, panel pins

and other construction products - was formed in 1974 in response to the acute shortage of build ing materials after Hurricane Bebe in 1972.

The company, which now exports half of its products, was the brain child of Ba politician and businessman Vinod Patel, who is a co-director with his brothers, Arvin Patel and Umakant Patel.

Patel is best known for his chain of hardware shops Vinod Patel and

Company, Tile Kingdom and Light City,

and as former mayor of Ba. He is current ly a National Federation Party representa tive in Fiji’s Parliament.

After grabbing a sizeable share of the domestic market, BIL started exporting to fully utilise its capacity.

“We have selected and trained locals

from Ba to produce high-quality goods

which can compare with overseas manu facturers,” said BIL general manager Ankur Amin.

He said the company was judged over all winner because of its export excel lence, rapid export sales growth and its

Trained to cats produce high quality goods

recent ISO 9000 certification, giving it recognition for producing international quality merchandise.

Export to New Zealand, which began in 1980, had flourished by the 1991/92 period. BIL now exports to other Pacific Islands while still maintaining its New

Zealand market share.

“In the last few years BIL

has been rapidly increasing

its export markets. At the moment, 50 per cent of total products are exported and this figure is likely to go up in the coming year,”

Amin said.

Although BIL is eligible for special tariffs under the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co

operation Agreement

(SPARTECA) programme,

Amin said they were not

dependent on it.

“We are confident that with our high ‘qualitivity’ - quality and productivity we will be able to establish a good name for Fiji-made goods in developed coun tries,” he said.

The company’s policy is to continually seek improved product excellence and new markets.

Prompt customer service, competitive prices and ready availability of goods have resulted in the BIL reputation for reliabil ity.

Amin said all raw materials for manu facturing were procured from ISO 9000certified mills in Australia and New Zealand.

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BIL is a locally owned company which has, through its investment and expansion, helped generate employment and advance the skills of locals, Amin said.

The company prides itself on the high productivity of its 35 employees which was attributed to BlL’s focus on training.

As part of the BIL corporate policy, the company has conducted various in-house workshops and on-the-job training ses sions which include programmes to enhance their quality system and customer service.

The company is proud of not only exporting, and thus adding to the country’s foreign exchange earnings, but contribut ing to the local economy, said Amin.

“By producing goods to high standards

and quality, we have made import substitu tion for wire and fencing products,” he said.

The BIL factory is located at Ba, 25 kilometres north of Fiji’s second port, Lautoka, in a steadily growing industrial area.

Ba Industries’ Ankur Amin (right) with Finance Minister Serenade Vunibobo at the 1995 Fiji Trade & Investment Board Exporter of the Year awards