Fiji’s Complex Economy

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32542, 27 February 1971, Page 10

Fiji’s Complex Economy

The Political Economy of Independent Fiji. By E. K. Fisk. A. H. and A. W. Reed. 84 pp. Maps and Index. The 18th century expression “political economy” has fallen into disuse in an age of academic specialisation; Professor Fisk has recognised its value in any attempt to explore the conditions of Fiji after independence. Fiji, in this masterly analysis, is not one economy but three, each centred on a different ethnic group. Yet the three races—Fijian, Indian and European—are also inextricably linked by proximity and politics. Hence, any acount of Fijian politics must take account of economics, and visa versa; because of the separate, ethnicallybased economies, the accepted tools for analysing a national economy are hardly applicable in Fiji. Professor Fisk argues that while Fiji’s development is impressive when the islands are considered as a single economic unit, the reality is quite different The question is not only the size of the cake, but also the way it is sliced up; as long as sugar is virtually an “Indians only” crop, bush fanning a “Fijians onlv” activity, and big commerce in the hands of Europeans, then each racial group will tend to regard as important only what happens to its own sector. Fiji’s economy needs expansion and diversification, and impressive progress has been made by the Government, and foreign capital; above all, however? it needs interpenetration of each sector of . activity (and not only economic activity) by each ethnic group if Fiji is to be a successful and contented State. Professor Fisk has had considerable experience as an economic planner in Malaya, where a similar ethnic and economic division exists; more

recently, as an academic based in Canberra, he has concentrated his attention on the Pacific Islands. His work is of "more than theoretical interest for New Zealanders. Fiji is one of this country’s nearest neighbours and, potentially, one of the most important New Zealand cannot afford to ignore what happens there and "The Political Economy of Independent Fiji” should be essential reading for anyone concerned with its politics and economics. The pressure of population on Fiji’s resources is well known; there is less appreciation of the complex divisions of its peoples. Three basic factors stand out: the "subsistence affluence” of the Fijians who need a minimum of labour to live comfortably in their traditional villages as long as they control most of the land; the capital of the Europeans who dominate largescale developments where growth is most impressive; the labour of Indian sugar fanners for whom shortage of land is acute. Fiji’s population has doubled in 25 years; since 1946 Indians have outnumbered Fijians. Fiji is not a poor country. Its gross domestic product per head of population is comparable with that of Spain and ahead of any Asian country except Malaya and Singapore. But the distribution of income is out of balance with the ethnic distribution and disparities are increasing. Professor Fisk deals ably, and in ... short compass, with the effects of well meant investments which increase the grdss national product in the short run but-do little to alleviate the fundalmental issues of land shortage for Indians and lack of participation in the more sophisticated sectors of the economy by Fijians. The solution must lie in attracting a larger number of

Fijians into permanent employment outside the villages so that land needed now for subsistence farming may be made available for cash crops, especially sugar. In addition, population control, intensified subsistence agriculture, and more technical education are needed. Only then can Fiji afford large investments in the tourist industry and its ancilliary services which, for most of the population, ■remain an icing on top of a cake from which they derive only the smallest crumbs. As the author sums it up: “The present planned path of development, with its emphasis on ‘the promotion of growth in commercial agriculture, industry and tourism,’ through the very effectiveness of the plan and its implementation, is rapidly worsening the economic imbalance and adding to the strains, at the very time in Fiji’s history when it is least able to stand it. This is bringing into jeopardy not only the economic growth the plan seeks to produce but also a large part of the social, political and economic progress won over the last few decades.”