‘I like to make running water walk’ – so said the famous American, Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn. Here in Fiji, it seems the Finance Ministry is determined to make ‘Fiji Water’ crawl. The blocking of their exports on the misplaced theory that some of what Americans are being charged should be repatriated back to our shores is trade interference if not corporate victimisation.
‘Fiji Water’ like any exporting company has the right to charge Americans what it likes for its products. If some of that cost to the American consumers subsidises what we pay for their product, all the better for us. But it is hardly reasonable that our Finance Ministry has a right to dictate to the company what it should be doing with its profits and who should be benefiting.
Once again this Ministry seems to be motivated to conducting policy on the basis of rank paranoia, weight-throwing, and muscle-flexing. It seems to be led by those who think corruption is rife and that they were being done out of an election win. Now they seem to think money being transferred into overseas coffers should be in theirs. In the meantime, an important export is being held to ransom.
Just how this mess started is anyone’s guess, but it is time to let the market forces play out and stop this unseemly interference in the running of the economy. It reminiscent of a union boycott. Whether former trade unionists and their ilk should be running the national economy is a moot point. Whether they have the capacity to run the Finance and related ministries is, on the face of it, arguably a recipe for the economic ruin of this country.
‘By means of water, We give life to everything’, says the Koran. These words weren’t written with ‘Fiji Water’ in mind and ‘Fiji Water’ hasn’t, by any stretch of the hermeneutic imagination, given life to everything in the national economy. But it has improved the livelihood of 300 workers, and it has revivified Fiji’s international profile through its strategic marketing.
We can be grateful. It is not easy to make product-nation associations in the consumer’s mind. Little wonder a number of similar water products have arisen to compete locally and internationally with the established global brand. If ‘Fiji Water’ is threatened by ugly bungling of the kind seen of late, you can be sure our national economy will eventually suffer too.
It was Benjamin Franklin who first said ‘when the wells run dry, we know the worth of water’. Does the Finance Ministry really understand the impact of what they are doing? We wonder.
Kutu says:
This was a Daily Post editorial a few days ago and is a subject that is bothering me of late. As a very interested observer of the economy and dedicated batini tanoa commentator of the same subject, I am very concern about the, economically speaking, destructive path this illegal government is taking us all.
Just to put things in perspective for those of you who have not seen the effect a bottle of Fiji Water has overseas, especially in the United States, even if we virtually give Fiji Water away for free, each little bottle, because of its design and branding is a virtual billboard freely promoting Fiji as a clean, pristine and healthy place.
Putting a side the products revenue generating ability or employment creation and other economic spin offs, the most successful achievement the people of Fiji Water have done was create and successfully spin off a now well reowned and successful brand. If you ask any large multinational corporate executive, they will tell you that at the end of the day, the actual content of most consumer items are almost identical. It is the branding and the image they convey which influences consumers perception to buy a particular product.
Think of the most recognised brand in the world “Coca Cola”, well Fiji water containing that magic word “Fiji” is quickly moving that way all over the world and the Fiji Water Delivery Truck is now becoming a moving billboard all over the world just like that Coke Truck.
Coke promotes a Corporate Entity, Fiji Water Promotes a whole Country and here we are with murderous stupid thieves, on the same league as Hitler, Stalin and Idi Amin, illegally governing our country (the most beautiful and unique country in the world) and well on the way to killing one of our golden egg laying goose. They’re also doing a fine job hacking away at the knee joints of tourism!
We have to put a stop to what these morons are doing to our country otherwise we will suffer irreparable damages to our economy, lifestyle, emotions, infrastructure that will take years and generations to fix take years to fix.
Either we allow this to happen or eliminate them all now!
Kutu Sebe nei Vore
January 19, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Me thinks the other water companys belonging to kulinas are trying to ride on the popularity of Fiji Water and attempting to sabotage its success.
And then there’s Rambo,the new kid on the block trying to flog his own brand from Valavala.
January 20, 2008 at 3:08 am
SV, Could you please post Dr. Tobey Huff’s letter to the FJ Times editor in yesterdays papers (Sat 19/01). An excellent article about this stupid governments dealing with Fiji Water. Here is a copy anyway.
Game of greed
It looks to me as if the interim Government has gotten into the greed game just like all the landowners who demand goodwill payment before leasing their land.
What a stupid statement made about the company which is trying to export Fiji water “they are selling the packaged product for $US50 per carton”.
So? Is it a good reason to block the export of the product?
I agree with the writer who said that if the Government is not happy with the valuation of the product, they should do something before it is on the docks to be exported.
Talk about acting like modern-day pirates, pass the eye patch.
If Customs thinks the water is worth $US50 a carton they are mistaken.
It is only worth what a customer will pay for it.
At present, on the Suva wharf, it is worth nothing.
Economics 101 teaches that a product is sold for the sum of cost of production plus cost of shipping plus cost of marketing plus profit.
Through the greedy eye, a product is valued as the purchase price.
These people do not see all the hidden costs to market the product.
I am sure all store owners would love for their merchandise to sell for 500 per cent more than they paid for it.
However, this is not going to happen and that is why stores have sales and drop the price of some items.
Sometimes, they have to sell some items for cost because nobody wants the product at the going price.
Sometimes, because they were greedy, items had to be thrown away and the shopkeeper ends up losing money instead of making a profit.
If the Government thinks it should tax the final purchase price, then it does not understand economics. Get real!
The export value of Fiji Water at the Suva wharf is only what the company had put into the product up to the wharf and not what they can expect the water to sell for on the world market.
Who took the time and money to market the product and continue to market it overseas?
The company should have a fair shot at making a profit and not be held up at the wharf for additional charges just because the company has done a good job of marketing the product overseas.
If the Government thinks that the water business is a lucrative market then it should step in and try to produce and market Fiji water.
Then, they will find out very quickly that they have no more business being in the water marketing business anymore than they have been in the sugar business.
Dr Tobey Huff
Lautoka