After Australia, Fiji looks to China for help with port, shipyard project

China is the world’s largest shipbuilder, accounting for half of all ships built this year. The pace of expansion of its navy has concerned Australia, which has donated dozens of patrol boats to its Pacific neighbours to boost surveillance of their territorial waters.

Rabuka told Fiji’s parliament on Wednesday his government was focused on upgrading infrastructure, “particularly the modernisation of port facilities and shipyards”.

“I anticipate potential collaboration with China in that endeavour, given China’s globally competitive shipbuilding,” he said.

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Discussions were under way to address Fiji’s “debt crisis” responsibly, he added. Fiji has external debt equivalent to 56 per cent of gross domestic product, most of which is owed to multilateral development banks. The amount also includes FJ$375 million (US$167 million) of China EXIM bank loans taken out almost a decade ago.

An Australia-based ship design company said Rabuka had earlier sought Australian involvement in the shipyard project.

Sea Transport chairman Stuart Ballantyne said his company had received a request from Fiji for a fleet of commercial ships it could assemble locally.

Ballantyne said he had advised Rabuka on the broad scope of the shipyard project, which would involve moving an “archaic” shipyard near Suva to the other side of the island, Lautoka, and constructing two undercover sheds.

Rabuka wants to revive shipbuilding as a training ground for tradespeople in Fiji, from carpenters to electricians, Ballantyne said, adding he was unaware of any Chinese involvement.

“If the Chinese have stepped up to the plate – they are the aggressors in the Pacific, the movers and shakers,” he said.

The Australian government has funded a feasibility study with Fiji Ports to explore redevelopment options at the Lautoka foreshore, including a barge landing and shipbuilding and maintenance facility.

Fiji Ports CEO Vajira Piyasena said the government had called for expressions of interest from investors for a joint shipyard venture in September.

The government advertisement said the project would meet the government’s shipbuilding requirements for five years, with a business model based on a joint venture with Fiji Ships and Heavy Industry, a subsidiary of Fiji Ports.

An official said only local proposals had been received, and the official was not aware of any contract being awarded.

Fiji Ports referred questions about China’s involvement to Rabuka’s office, which did not respond to requests for comment.

China’s embassy in Fiji did not respond to a request for comment.

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China’s policy on Pacific nations fully respects the sovereignty and independence of those countries without attaching political conditions or empty promises, Xi said after meeting Rabuka last week.