Fiji Embraces Outsourcing for Future Economy – with Kamal Chetty of Investment Fiji

In this week’s episode of the Outsource Accelerator Podcast, Derek is joined by Kamal Chetty. Kamal is the Chief Executive Officer of Investment Fiji, an organization dedicated to promoting investments and industry developments for the country. 

They discuss the country’s fast-emerging outsourcing industry, Investment Fiji’s role, and the potential that this often-overlooked nation holds. 

Investment Fiji

Kamal begins by introducing Investment Fiji. 

“Investment Fiji is basically an investment and trade promotion of the government. We are responsible for attracting new investments into the country [and] facilitating those foreign and domestic investments.

We look at promoting Fijian products, including services overseas, and see how we can get and expand those services and investments and exports in other markets.” 

The organization exists to support the growth of the economy, and they’re looking into outsourcing to help push it forward. 

“If you look at our strategy, outsourcing is an important aspect. For the country, it’s important in terms of economic diversification. 

It was very important for us to explore new avenues and new sectors. And I think outsourcing has been one of the standout sectors that we want to continue to develop as a country.”  

Growth of Fiji’s outsourcing market

Fiji’s outsourcing sector is relatively new but really took off after the COVID-19 pandemic. Kamal gives a brief summary of the events. 

“One of the reasons [for] the growth was because a lot of bigger countries couldn’t really mobilize their workforce. 

In Fiji, it was declared an emergency sector. So the government allowed people to move, [which] allowed that industry to grow [because] people shifted some of their operations to Fiji.

So the sector grew, and more employment was created.”

He heavily credits their partnership with Outsource Fiji for making this growth possible. 

“[They’re] a very important partner for us. They are more of our industry body while we are the government body, and we work together to grow that sector.”   

Kamal boasts of the current numbers of Fiji’s outsourcing sector. 

“There are about 20 BPO operators currently in Fiji, six shared services, and three knowledge process outsourcing centers. That grew during COVID and continues to grow. 

We employ about 8,000 people now, [after] starting with only a few thousand people. The journey has been good, but I think now for us it’s about moving and growing that sector.”

Kamal acknowledges that their population size won’t allow them to reach the outsourcing heights of countries like India or the Philippines. However, he’s confident that Fiji can serve in a “backup center” role. 

He sees plenty of potential to swell their employee numbers to achieve this.

“Our aim is 25,000 people in the next ten years. We have a lot of young [people] in our population, and 90 percent of our workforce is under 35 years old. 

So we do have a lot of young people available that can be observed in that industry.” 

What Fiji can offer 

Kamal emphasizes that the government has been heavily involved in expanding the sector.

“The government is very proactive and they want to ensure that this sector grows. So there is a lot of support and incentives available.”

While staffing issues are a global phenomenon, Fiji is prepared to provide a solution. 

“The BPO sector has been able to attract [talent] because if you look at Fiji, for you to work for an international brand is an important factor when people consider being employed.

There is definitely a challenge, but the industry itself is creating a lot of innovative solutions to attract people into this sector.”

You may reach Investment Fiji by visiting its website here, as well as through its LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. 

You may also connect with Kamal on LinkedIn.