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The eighth in a series of articles in which Hester Ross follows the progress of the Queen's Jubilee Baton through the Commonwealth and focuses on debt related issues encountered along the way. Now well into its travels the baton arrives in Fiji in the Pacific.

Fragile dreams, delicate economies.

Dreaming of your summer holiday yet? For most of us that's a big part of the fun. And since we want our dreams to come true, we're often prepared to see a bit more of paradise in a place than the local residents would. There's something about simply going on holiday that makes us want to suspend our disbelief. How many visitors to Disneyland tell about meeting someone dressed up as Mickey Mouse for instance?

However, there are limits to how much reality we're prepared to ignore. A Pacific idyll, for instance, must include beautiful beaches, spectacular scenery and coral reefs. It definitely shouldn't include civil unrest and ethnic tensions.

Which is why in recent years the series of coups and counter coups accompanied by growing tensions between ethnic-Fijians and Asian-Fijians have seen a 70% drop in the tourist revenues on which Fiji's economy relies. And these home grown problems are inevitably compounded by the widespread post-September 11th-reluctance of so many people to travel anywhere at all. UK holiday companies alone are reported to have cut the number of all holidays available by 50%. The tourist industry is as fragile as the dreams in which it is rooted.

Along with tourism, Fiji's main export has been sugar. At present under the terms of the Lome agreement Fiji receives a price for her sugar nearly four times the normal international price. This preferential agreement will last for another 15- 20 years by which time the Fijian sugar industry will have to compete with highly sophisticated mass producers in Australia, Brazil and Cuba. Great efforts are being made to bring the industry up to date in terms of quality and method of production. But it's an uphill struggle. To complicate matters, most sugar farmers are Asian-Fijians, the very people most under threat from the ethnic-Fijian government. A mass exodus of this community would spell disaster for the sugar industry and the whole Fijian economy.

Fiji's debt is high at 40% of GDP, and although the average $1,830 annual income of Fijians is low by western standards, Fiji is not a poor country compared to those where earnings are $2 a day or less. But it doesn't take much imagination in the current climate to see how quickly unpayable debt could soon become an issue.

Fijian tourism and sugar, both vital to the economy, are both suddenly in peril. Word spread fast that Fiji was a holiday destination to avoid. Why are we not surprised that less energy has gone into informing the world about the sugar industry?

Oxfam want us to get concerned about trade agreements and see them as vital in eradicating poverty. Without proper international concern, we'll see more and more of our paradise islands turning into economic wildernesses.

Visit www.jubileescotland.org.uk for more on Scotland's debt campaign or e-mail mail@jubileescotland.org.uk ) You can find out more on Oxfam's Trade campaign at www.maketradefair.com
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