Economic policy changes in Fiji have altered the structure of the economy in recent years. The emphasis since the early-1990s has been to promote export-led economic growth.

Fiji, like many other Pacific island countries, is a small open economy, far from major markets and dependent on a few exports. More recently, Fiji has faced the growing challenge of adjusting to the erosion of trade preferences for its sugar and garments.

Changes to the Fiji economy since the mid-1980s have resulted in larger shares for the manufacturing and services sectors, while the share of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries has declined.

Only 33 percent of the labor force was female, with males predominating in cash employment.

1) Recorded unemployment: was 6 percent in 1996, down from nearly 8 percent in 1986 but the figures are unlikely to represent the real total of those who would have been willing to take up cash employment.

2) migration: Increased opportunities for labor mobility in Fiji along with competition from Europe may further adversely affect the domestic availability of skills. Although it may also strengthen the skills base in the longer term when overseas workers return.

3) Gender inequalities: the majority of the females undertook 99 percent of full-time household duties which amounts to more than 15 hours of household chores than males, whether working or not.

4) The informal sector: 57% of the labor force is engaged in the informal sector. About 40% are working in the formal sector.

Informal labor has an unemployment rate of 8.8 percent and account for two-thirds of the unemployed but only around one-third of the labor force. Fiji's economic structure has changed significantly over the last two decades.

The contribution of agriculture to GDP has declined while that of manufacturing has increased, though not significantly enough to absorb resources released from the rural agricultural sector.

The contribution of the tourism industry to the growth of the economy has been significant and now surpasses earnings from sugar exports. This could be used to resolve the unemployment crisis in the economy. The services sector will continue to provide opportunities for increased exports and tourism is likely to continue expanding.

Fiji's economic performance in the future will depend on how well it can navigate its way in the fast-changing global and subregional economic environments. The erosion of trade preferences for sugar and garment exports requires adjustment on several fronts.

Key among them will be creating appropriate and efficient institutions to support the development of the export sector while seeking to remain competitive with other exporting countries. This can be used to reskill the labor to further enhance their employability.

Fiji should consider the model of trade union partnership with employers and Government, based on the Japanese or Singapore models.