From AFP:
US-owned bottled water giant Fiji Water shut down operations in the military-ruled Pacific nation Monday, branding it "increasingly unstable" and a risky place to do business.
Fiji Water president John Cochran condemned the government's decision last week to hike taxes on the mineral water it extracts at an aquifer on the main island Viti Levu by 5,000 percent, from 0.3 to 15 cents a litre.
"This new tax is untenable and as a consequence, Fiji Water is left with no choice but to close our facility in Fiji," he said in a statement, adding the loss of one of Fiji's main exporters would cost hundreds local jobs.
Cochran said the government action was effectively "a taking of our business".
"(It) sends a clear and unmistakable message to businesses operating in Fiji or looking to invest there -- the country is increasingly unstable, and is becoming a very risky place in which to invest," he said.
The choice of the word "taking" is interesting. Are they thinking about a "measure tantamount to expropriation"-type claim? I glanced around the web quickly, but did not see anything to indicate that Fiji has signed on to an investment treaty with the U.S. (or anyone else) that has investor-state dispute settlement.
Here's the Fijian government response:
"As usual Fiji Water has adopted tactics that demonstrate (it) does not care about Fiji or Fijians. They have made statements about supposed instability in Fiji and know it is not true, yet do so because they simply do not want to pay the new taxes," he said.
"If Fiji Water is no longer interested in Fiji then the Fijian Government, following cancellation of the (company's land) leases, will call for international tenders from credible and reputable private sector companies to extract this valuable resource," he said.
