Minister for Immigration, Pio Tikoduadua says the government will be giving early and focused priority to reform the immigration processes as Fiji is now at the point where the lack of available skills in critical areas is threatening Fiji’s economic growth and this cannot continue.
In his New Year’s address, Tikoduadua says some of the most dynamic economies in the world – the United States, Singapore, the Emirates – get their skills from other countries and we must do the same.
He says we know that Fiji does not have enough construction workers, mechanics and machine operators and the immigration policy must stop pretending otherwise and adapt to the new challenges we face.
Tikoduadua says the government will be putting forward, in a matter of weeks, a number of simple process changes which will significantly cut the workloads of the Immigration Department staff and improve turnaround times on permit applications.
The Minister says documentary requirements will be reduced and payment and certification processes sped up.
He says the Immigration officials are already under huge pressure and they need help to work faster and smarter.
Tikoduadua says they will be following the lead of other countries hunting for scarce skills and create priority skills sectors for which documentary requirements will be minimised.
He says some of these measures have already been recommended and are being developed under the Growth Re-set initiative announced by the Prime Minister late last year.
Tikoduadua adds they have a platform from which to work, however, they need to bring greater urgency to their implementation and this year, along with their development partners, they will be introducing them.
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