Fiji futuring: connectivity and development

Robbie Robertson is a development historian, currently Professor and Director of Development Studies at the University of the South Pacific. Sustainable economic growth requires both vertical and horizontal linkages. In Fiji these linkages have often been missing, with the result that the impact of even significant economic sectors has been more palliative than energising. Combined with political instability, this weakness has created new realities that Fiji finds difficult to confront. With no possibility of deriving strong sustainable growth from its immediate region or from meagre inflows of foreign direct investment, Fiji must—at least in the short term—look instead to inter-sectoral connectivity to drive creativity and growth. This means ending the culture of 1987, drawing strength from its diaspora, and targeting labour mobility to promote sectors with the greatest potential for growth. Above all, it means riding on the strength of its most successful economic sector, tourism, in order to diversify and deepen economic activity. This paper proposes two activities that can assist to drive both urban and rural growth: embedded tourism and horticulture.