A Fijian Delegation led by the Outsource Fiji Executive Committee President, James Mastapha, is currently in Melbourne Australia, to participate in the 25th Australasian ‘Shared Services and Outsourcing’ Week (SSOW) hosted by the International Quality & Productivity Centre (IQPC), Australia.

The Australasian SSOW is Australia’s leading shared and business services transformational
event that brings together Australia and New Zealand’s heads of businesses across sectors
such as telecommunications, finance, and ICT, including representatives from the Australian
local governments, and the Fiji government.

Mastapha says the event provides an opportunity to showcase Fiji as the destination of
choice for outsourcing services (OS) as Australians recognize Fiji as a “place where happiness
finds you” but few know Fiji as the premium OS nearshoring destination.

“Fiji is growing into the hub for outsourcing services in the Pacific and with the Fijian Government
support, the sector has flourished over the past few years. Despite the economic impacts of
Covid, the outsourcing sector was able to secure new clients and employ people at a time when
many businesses were struggling,” Mastapha said.

“Events like this provide an effective platform to generate potential interest and gather valuable
market intelligence on the latest trends and learnings for our members. It also helps us
strengthen Fiji’s visibility in Australia which is a key source market.”

“Our participation at events like this has been only made possible with the grant funding we
received in the 2021-2022 Fiji National Budget, and we are extremely grateful to the Fijian
Government for this support. I would also like to thank Australia’s Market Development Facility
for partnering with us and providing us with technical and financial support to push the industry
forward”, he added.

This Australasian SSOW event has attracted over 200 delegates this year. A significant portion
of the event will be dedicated to panel discussions, break-out, and networking sessions, with
case studies presented by major leaders in the outsourcing industry (including, but not limited
to Telstra, Woolworths Group, Fujifilm, and the ANZ Bank).

Labour skill shortages and distribution have led to many Australian businesses choosing to
outsource or offshore different functions of their operations in order to de-risk and reduce
overhead costs.

“Fiji’s outsourcing sector remained resilient during the pandemic, largely due to the immense
support by the national government which recognizes the sector as an essential service. Fiji
also offers a cost-effective solution for nearshore markets like Australia and New Zealand with
our highly qualified workforce, neutral accent, low attrition and competitive rates,” said Mastapha.

Outsource Fiji Executive Director, Sagufta Janif says following Fiji’s inaugural participation
at the SSOW event in Europe, this SSOW Melbourne event will build on Outsource Fiji’s
commitment to strengthen Fiji’s position as a premier outsourcing destination in key nearshore
markets such as Australia.

The Fijian delegation also includes Outsource Fiji’s Marketing and Communications
Coordinator, Shivika Supriya, the Fiji Consulate General & Trade Commission Australia &
New Zealand, Marketing & Communications Officer, Shazadi Durrani, and personnel from
the Australian Government’s Market Development Facility (MDF).

The SSOW 2022 is being held from the 22nd to 23rd June.