Businesses must work smarter – Tagaloa

In an effort to capture a bigger portion of the export market Samoan businesses need to “work smarter.”

So says the President of the Samoa Exporters and Manufacturer’s Association (S.A.M.E), Tagaloa Eddie Wilson.

During an interview with the Samoa Observer, Tagaloa said that in working smarter, businesses need to focus on capacity building and climate change adaptation.

“We do not have the economies of scale to compete with larger players,” he said. “So we need to ‘work smarter’ and be competitive.

“Samoa needs to focus on capacity building and climate change adaptation.”

Tagaloa said the private sector - the manufacturers, exporters and service providers - also need to build supply capacity for agriculture and service providers for import substitution and export industries.

“These industries need to have access to competitive finance and supply chain,” he said.

“Whether in agriculture or trade or utility services or any other provider in the value added chain.”

Other providers he said included transport, information technology and telecommunication.

“These are all interlinked in enabling the country and its people to survive,” said Tagaloa.

“(To help them) adapt to an increasingly challenging environment – with climate change a major challenging fact of life especially for Samoa and the Pacific Islands.”

These comments come in light of advice offered to Samoa by the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), Arancha González.

In Samoa earlier this month for the Small Island Developing States (S.I.D.S.) conference, Ms. González said Samoa needed to brand its self intelligently if businesses are to trade effectively.

“Now in a small island like Samoa, or a small island like Tonga, anywhere in the Pacific where size is a limitation, I think the answer is to invest (in) efforts at making sure your economic operators capture a greater part of the value in country,” she said then.

“So you try to add value to the assets that you have.

“These islands have amazing assets. Agriculture is a huge asset in these islands, with a rich biodiversity, one that to my mind has not been fully exploited yet.”
Tagaloa said by having an export focus, Samoan manufacturers and exporters could value add to their products.

“And (by) continuously improving quality and product (and) service presentation,” he said.

“Whilst maintaining competitiveness in terms of price and quality.”

Recently S.A.M.E. hosted an International Organisation for Standardisation (I.S.O.) Training Course.

According to a release issued by the Association, I.S.O. International Standards ensure that products and services are safe, reliable and of good quality.

“For business, they are strategic tools that reduce costs by minimising waste and errors and increasing productivity,” the release says.

“They help companies to access new markets, level the playing field for developing countries and facilitate free and fair global trade.”

Tagaloa said this program provides guidance to manufacturers and exporters in achieving this value adding to their products, as it prepares S.A.M.E. members to become certified in that they meet international standards.

He said the training was important because for Samoa manufacturers and exporters to survive in an increasingly liberalised trading environment- they need to be competitive and be internationally recognised.

Returning to comments made by Ms. González, she said that 21st Century trade is as much about tariffs as it is about non-tariff barriers.

“Standards, regulations, precautionary measures, preventative measures, prudential regulations and that is much more difficult,” she said at the conference.

“This is why I say for trade to work, you have to open trade you have to open trade, but you also have to build the capacity of your operators to trade.”

Tagaloa said he was in complete agreeance with this notion.

“This is why S.A.M.E. is focusing on capacity building for Samoan manufacturers and exporters of goods and services,” he said.

“The S.A.M.E. I.S.O. program provides guidance to manufacturers and exporters in achieving this.

“The I.S.O. program is about continuous improvement- with the main goal on consumer satisfaction and recognition and to remain competitive.”

When asked if he thought donor and trade partners should focus more on helping their smaller trading partners by capacity building their private sectors to assist with trade, Tagaloa said “yes”.

“But we must also be committed to helping ourselves in achieving and enhancing trade,” said Tagaloa.

“The S.A.M.E. I.S.O. program and its Buy Samoa made export drive- is geared towards this.

“First the focus on New Zealand- next on the Australian market- and then the larger markets in Asia and Europe longer term.”