Prime Minister Hon Manasseh Sogavare has assured the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI) of his Democratic Coalition for Change Government’s commitment to work in alliance with its stakeholders to create a more enabling environment for investment in Solomon Islands.
The Prime Minister made the assurance when the Chair to the SICCI Board Mr Tony Koraua and of his board members made a courtesy call on him this morning.
The board members include SICCI Vice Chair Mr Jeremy Bartlett from Hatanga Group of Companies, Sir Bruce Saunders from United Risk Services Ltd. Mr Geoff Buchanan CEO of ANZ Bank and Mr Andrew Kerr General Manager of Guadalcanal Plains Palm Oil Limited.
Mr Koraua congratulated Prime Minister Sogavare for his election and told him that SICCI was encouraged to hear his statements referring to the private sector as an important partner of the government in ensuring economic growth and his DCC regime’s intention for a more interactive engagement with government stakeholders.
“We are here to congratulate you and see how we can continue to work as partners in stimulating private sector growth. We’ve been encouraged to hear your statements alluding to the private sector as an important partner of the government in bringing about economic growth.”
He said SICCI is the peak representative organisation for the private sector in the country and its current membership stands at 184. SICCI also has a number of affiliations which include the European Union, Australian High Commission, New Zealand High Commission, Chinese Association, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, University of the South Pacific, Solomon Islands National University, Forum Fisheries Agency and the Solomon Islands Women’s Group and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) organisations and in Business.
Mr Koraua said one of the major challenges facing the private sector attracting foreign investors is the high cost of doing business in Solomon Islands and suggested a tax review to broaden base, and look at ways to reduce cost of utilities. He also suggested the new Sogavare regime to initiate a quarterly government dialogue with SICCI so that both parties can update each other on the progress of implementing whatever decisions they have agreed on.
Mr Koraua also raised the issue of land reform and the importance of this reform to development.
The General Manager of GPPOL emphasised the need for co-operation between the government and investors when dealing with land issues as the problem of administrative delays in land acquisition processing is not encouraging for investment.
Sir Bruce Saunders from the United Risk Services Ltd touched on the Underground Fibre Optic Cable Project for the improvement of internet services in the country and alluded to it as a solution to the high business operational cost and for Solomon Islands.
ANZ CEO Mr Buchanan said that negotiations on the financing of the Undersea Cable Project are progressing well and informed the Prime Minister that ANZ Bank is pleased to contribute to the financing of such infrastructure project.
In response the Prime Minister acknowledged the congratulatory remarks by the SICCI Board Chair and reiterated the need for serious input from stakeholders to advancing his DCC government’s development policy intentions.
The SICCI team also informed the Prime Minister that SICCI together with the Australia Pacific Islands Business Council will be hosting their 7th Business Forum in Honiara from the 15th to the 17th of June this year and formally submitted him an invitation to be the guest speaker.
“We’ve been wanting to bring this summit to Solomon Islands this year to give the opportunity to all our members to gain some exposure and we are glad to be accorded the opportunity of playing host to this event.
Acknowledging the SICCI’s proposal for continued constant dialogue with the government, Prime Minister Sogavare announced his intention for the ‘nation’ to sit together with its development partners to look at relook at his DCC Government policy framework to see how they can collaborate in implementing the development intentions therein.
Hon Sogavare said his government is planning a review of the implementation of the policy intentions every six months to ensure they are carried out accordingly and within the specified timeframe.
The Prime Minister acknowledged the concern raised by the SICCI Chair for the creation of an investment enabling environment to attract investors into the country.
“We acknowledge that we need to have a new private sector concept. We need to rethink our development strategies to bring about the right solutions to our development problems. This is the 21st Century and we must come out of our mentality about availing our land for development.”
The Prime Minister expressed appreciation over the positive progress in negotiations on the financing of the Undersea Cable Project as well as SICCI’s successful bid to host the Australia Pacific Islands Business Council Forum in Solomon Islands this year.
– PM’s press secretariat
