Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the “lack of appetite” by “some political parties” toward allowing foreigners into Fiji is a “very xenophobic way of thinking”.
He said the reality was that we lived in a globalised world.
“Now, that is a huge missed opportunity, if that becomes the mainstream way of thinking,” he said.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the reality was that a lot of the technologies used by people were not made in Fiji.
“So in terms of the skill set that is required, for example, to maintain that, in terms of the people who may actually operate the system, you will need people from outside (foreigners).
“If we want to be able to achieve certain outcomes in the economy, if we want individual organisations to be able to perform to its optimum level, then we need to be able to bring the right people to be able to do these jobs.
“So from our perspective, it’s not about individuals, it’s about what we need to do as a country, as an economy, to achieve our optimum level.
“To be able to ensure that there is good governance, to be able to ensure that there is less bureaucracy, to be able to ensure that there’s transparency, but more importantly, to ensure that will continue to grow on a sustainable basis and provide sustainable livelihoods.”
