Global Utah Weekly

His Excellency Berenado Vunibobo, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Fiji Islands to the UN, visited Utah last week. On November 24 he met with Utah business leaders at the Salt Lake Chamber in a luncheon co-hosted by GOED and the WTCU. During his presentation, the Ambassador spoke on the importance of good will in negotiations between countries during periods of conflict resolution. He noted that in spite of its small size, the Republic of Fiji Islands followed through on it’s commitment to the peacekeeping initiatives of the UN, with it’s contingent looking after the UN operation in Iraq, Liberia, Darfur, Afghanistan & Pakistan. He stressed the importance of maintaining peacekeeper relations with the communities experiencing conflicts, and that so far the Fiji contingent has been successful in doing so. The Ambassador spoke passionately on the importance of the traditional marriage institution, and addressed climate change issues. He expressed the concerns of many island nations about their future given the possibility that many of them could become submerged as a result of global warming. He also shared the latest information on his country’’s levels of literacy, life expectancy and possible opportunities for Utah residents and businesses to engage with the Republic of the Fiji Islands. Among those opportunities are tourism, educational exchange and agricultural exports. Fiji Quick Facts: Fiji, endowed with forest, mineral, and fish resources, is one of the more developed of the Pacific island economies, though still with a large subsistence sector. Natural resources include timber, fish, gold, copper, offshore oil potential, hydropower. Fiji experienced a period of rapid growth in the 1960s and 1970s but stagnated in the 1980s. The coup of 1987 caused further contraction. Economic liberalization in the years following the coup created a boom in the garment industry and a steady growth rate despite growing uncertainty of land tenure in the sugar industry. The expiration of leases for sugar cane farmers (along with reduced farm and factory efficiency) has led to a decline in sugar production despite a subsidized price. Subsidies for sugar have been provided by the EU and Fiji has been the second largest beneficiary after Mauritius. Area - 7,056 sq mi Population - 2009 estimate 849,000 GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate - Total $3.678 billion - Per capita $4,196 GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate - Total $3.589 billion - Per capita $4,094 Currency: Fijian dollar (FJD)