SUVA, 17 OCTOBER 2018 (FRESH PLAZA) – Edward Gresser, the Assistant US Trade Representative for Trade Policy and Economics during the USA-Pacific Islands Trade Seminar in Suva, highlighted how his country remains Fiji’s number one export destination.
A seminar at the University of the South Pacific highlighted topics such as exporting duty-free to the US, exporter assistance programmes and investment opportunities. Gresser spoke at length about the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and about its potential to Fiji and the Pacific.
“GSP provides preferential duty-free treatment of more than 3,400 products from Fiji, Kiribati and Tuvalu. Fiji’s exports under the generalised system of preference (GSP) programme in 2017 accounted for 8 per cent of total exports to United States of America. The total US export was US$222 million in 2017, US$19 million of which were under GSP.”
Gresser continued: “Learn how to utilise the programme for your business. One thing we notice in our relationships with a lot of GSP countries is that often when products come in to the US but are not claimed as GSP products. This tells us, they aren’t aware of checking the box and getting the tariff waived.”
The current ginger processing factory was built in 2009. It is located on the banks of the Navua River. The facility is a family-oriented ginger processing company offering a range of quality ginger products including crystallised, pureed, glace, and juice. The company was founded by managing director, Kaiming Qiu, also known as Calvin Qiu.
