Aust firms favour tax haven

Press, 1 April 1989, Page 30

Aust firms favour tax haven

NZPA-AAP Suva Nearly 40 Australian firms have expressed interest in setting up tax-free factories in Fiji after an investment seminar in Melbourne last week, said the Fiji Trade And Investment Board (FITB) yesterday.

In a statement FITB director, Surendra Sharma, said the inquiries ranged from production of garments, canned food, furniture and

jewellery to sawmilling, fishing and the manufacture of electrical goods. There were also inquiries about hotel and tourist development.

Under the scheme companies which export at least 95 per cent of production are granted a 13-year tax holiday and are entitled to import capital equipment and raw materials duty-free. Being based in Fiji also allows them to export to

Australia and New Zealand duty-free under the longstanding South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-Operation Agreement (SPARTECA) which encourages industrialisation in island states.

The tax-free zone scheme was set up last year in a bid to boost Fiji’s ailing economy which hit a disastrous downturn after two military coups here in 1987.

Since its establishment, 46

local and overseas firms have taken advantage of the scheme.

So far five Australian firms have entered into partnerships with Fiji companies. Australia is currently Fiji’s number one trade partner with exports of almost sAust2oo million a year. Nearly 100 Australian companies trade in Fiji under normal corporate conditions in banking, retailing, mining, and tourism.