Fiji potential to become Singapore, says creator of Matrix Thinking

JYOTI PRATIBHA
suva

Fiji has the potential to become the Singapore of the Pacific, says the creator of “Matrix Thinking”, Roger La Selle.
Mr La Selle is in the country to hold a series of workshops focussed on enhancing performance through Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
He facilitated two half-day workshops with middle-level managers of the CJ Patel Group at Fiji National University’s Nabua campus.
Speaking to the Fiji Sun after the workshop yesterday, Mr La Selle said he has been coming to Fiji for several years and saw the potential this country has.
“I have said this more times than I care to think about- this place should be the Singapore of the Pacific,” he said.
“It has more potential than Singapore. Singapore is about 20 miles by 30 miles, it does not have a single natural resource, they even buy their drinking water.
“Fiji has natural resources, marvellous sugarcane industry, huge geography, marvellous beaches, and large land mass, it just blows me away.
“What’s more is that in some sectors, your wage rate is lower than China and people here speak perfect English.
“Why would we want to invest in India, China which are a long way away and many there do not speak English. This is the perfect place to do business.”
Mr La Selle believes part of the reason this has not been so is the political environment.
“People are reluctant to invest money here because of the past significant political challenge. Governments may come in change the laws etc,” he said.
“I am not saying whether this is good or bad, I am not commenting on this. The mere fact is that change can occur, people tend to hold back.”

A diverse company
Mr La Selle said a company as diverse as CJ Patel Pacific was one of its kind.
“I think this company is remarkable to have such diversity- from newspaper to batteries to sea food,” he said.
“I have never seen anything like this in my life and to manage a company like that- how does the man on the top manage to keep a finger on the pulse of everyone.
“I would like to hope that you people go back and implement this but also to take this back to your bosses, who could take it up to their bosses.
“This is such a diverse organisation, I am amazed at its structure and of course, it is successful so things have been done right.”
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