MEDIA RELEASE: 27 FEBRUARY 2002

It is important to correct some impressions about the Fiji economy which have been conveyed in recent Australian media reporting of Fiji.

Contrary to comments that neither foreigners nor locals are investing in Fiji, the Council notes that since October 2000 there have been a number of significant investments by Australian and Fiji-based investors which reflect a greater confidence in the long term economy of Fiji than this reporting acknowledges. Examples include:

• Five new listings on the South Pacific Stock Exchange. Although small, the SPSE is an important and growing element in the Fiji economy. All five listings have been successful, and are currently trading higher than the listing price. In the most recent listing, a broadcasting company, the IPO offering of 750,000 shares at $1 was oversubscribed, and when the company started trading on the SPSE its opening price was around 15% higher. It continues to trade at around that price. A major investor in the company is an Australian with existing broadcasting interests in Australia and long term tourism interests in Fiji. The SPSE recently forecast a further five new listings in 2002, including the long awaited Amalgamated Telecom Holdings.

• One of the successful listings was the health insurance company Fijicare, the largest healthcare insurer in Fiji. The major shareholder in Fijicare is Australian Family Assurance, a wholly Australian owned company.

• The totally refurbished Outrigger Reef Fiji, a $40 million investment, opened on the Coral Coast.

• Brierly Investments bought out the remaining interests of Tabua Investments, the development company for Denarau Island near Nadi, and therefore now owns 100% of the company.

• The ANZ Banking Group purchased the interests of the Bank of Hawaii in Fiji, and is investing in a back office processing centre in Fiji.

• Emperor Mines Limited, an ASX listed company, has recently announced a $5 million investment which will enable it to expand its 70-year production operation at Vatukoula, and Burdekin Pacific is working towards reopening its Mt Kase mine in Vanua Levu.

• Nestle recently completed a $10 million expansion of its food processing facility in Fiji.

• Tourist arrivals into Fiji, decimated in May 2000, are steadily climbing back towards pre-coup levels.

• The Reserve Bank of Fiji has managed Fiji’s monetary situation with great care and skill since May 2000. Fiji’s exchange rate is stable and its foreign exchange reserves are sound.

• The Fiji government has created world’s best financial incentives to attract audio visual and IT industries to set up in Fiji to take advantage of the Southern Cross Cable, and to enable international sportsmen and women tax free residential status in Fiji. Fiji is the only country in the Asia Pacific region to offer this status to international sports men and women, thus creating the opportunity for sportsmen and women from the Asia Pacific region to be domiciled within the region.

• The Fiji Trade Commission in Sydney and the Austrade office in Suva report a steady stream of enquiries about business and trading opportunities in Fiji.

The Council acknowledges there are long term structural problems with aspects of the Fiji economy which need to be addressed, notably in the sugar and textile production industries, and that there remain a number of important political and legal issues to be settled.

It also recognises that the perception amongst the investor community with limited experience in Fiji that it is not a stable investment destination is to some extent fuelled by unbalanced media reporting.

It is clear that many companies and individuals with a long history of investment in Fiji still regard it as a worthwhile place in which to invest for the long run.

27 February 2002.

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