THE Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) Business Reform Committee held its first meeting in Suva on Monday.
The committee will transform the processes and services delivered by FRCS to the public as well as support transparency, improve efficiency and encourage a more customer-oriented level of service, according to a press release issued yesterday by the Department of Information.
Committee members include high-powered CEOs, entrepreneurs, and executives.
The committee is chaired by Dilip Khatri with Sandeep Chauhan serving as deputy chairman.
“Fiji has charted historic economic progress because we are a Government who recognises the importance of collaborating with our private sector partners to fuel the engine of the Fijian economy,” said Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum during the meeting.
“Running a successful enterprise isn’t always easy — no one understands the challenges better than the women and men who have started and built business themselves.”
He added that through the Business Reform Committee, they were able to bring in valuable experiences to reform FRCS into a more customer-focused organisation.
“We cast a wide net in assembling this committee. We wrote to representative organisations across the economy — some responded and others did not.
“We also asked some specific members to join given their reputations and experiences within various sectors of the business community,” said Mr Sayed-Khaiyum.
He said the committee would aim to remove unnecessary bureaucracy and inconsistency residing in FRCS and instil a new corporate culture that was empathetic to the challenges businesses faced and personalised to the unique needs of businesses of different sizes and from different industries.
According to the press release, the committee will focus on reviewing tax and Customs administration, monitoring the proper implementation of the VAT monitoring systems, improving the engagement strategies with FRCS’ stakeholders, reviewing the success of trade and investment facilitation policies, as well as developing FRCS’s service in which it will be able to accommodate all businesses from different sectors.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum briefed the members on Government’s expectations of the product it expected out of the committee, as it would be focused on soliciting and collating of information relevant to improving the processes of FRCS.
A report of the findings will be presented to the Ministry of Economy once finalised.
Members of the committee discussed a way forward by setting realistic and pragmatic timelines.
They also looked at designing sub-structures of the committee to ensure the smooth execution of tasks, according to the press release.
The second meeting for the FRCS Business Reform Committee is tentatively scheduled for August 27.
