ANZ goMoney merchant now in Noro

ANZ on Tuesday announced the addition of another ANZ goMoney merchant  to its expanding network across the Solomon Islands. A statement from the bank said Soltai Staff Credit Union in Noro is ANZ’s latest ANZ goMoney merchant in the Western Province, taking the total number of merchants in the area to 16. “ANZ goMoney will…

Solomon Post violates convention, says Kelly

SOLOMON Islands Postal Corporation violated the Universal Postal Union Convention when it temporarily closed its Auki office in Malaita. That’s according to former deputy chief executive officer Sione Kelly. He said under the convention, Solomon Post is required to give a three-month notice to the public about closing its office before it could do so.…

Senior transport and energy officials meet in Nadi ahead of ministers’ meeting

Senior officials responsible for energy and transport in Pacific Island countries and territories gathered in Nadi, Fiji on Monday to participate in two days of meetings ahead of the Pacific Regional Energy and Transport (Aviation and Maritime) Ministers’ Meeting, which starts today. The officials’ meeting, organised by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in…

Simberi mine promotes safety among communities

ST Barbara’s Simberi operations in New Ireland has focused on community involvement to promote the national safety week which ended last Friday. Health and Safety superintendent Daan Van Pletzen said the company was putting more stress on schools around the island. Activities on Simberi began the previous Sunday, which saw nine different departments in the…

Japan joins Pacific infrastructure body

Usually when you are talking of billions of dollars of investment in the Pacific you are talking about countries like Papua New Guinea or East Timor. But, in terms of infrastructure, there is an organisation that has a budget of well over one billion dollars to invest in small Pacific countries.  The Pacifc Regional Infrastrucutre…

Shipping commission meets

On 1 January this year, the Central Pacific Shipping Commission (CPSC) became operational. Work to achieve this began after the governments of Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu signed a regional agreement on international commercial shipping in 2010. CPSC is an initiative born out of the call of leaders in Pacific small island states to…

Internet speed plans

LIKE mobile phones, the internet is a need for many ordinary consumers in today’s modern technology-driven society. Internet service providers (ISPs) understand the demand and have tried to attract consumers with promotions highlighting how faster their speeds are or how generous they are with data. The fact is that consumers are hooked on to their…

CBSI on monetary policy stance

The Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) board has decided in its meeting on Thursday 27th March 2014 to move away from the moderate contractionary monetary policy stance that prevailed in the recent six months to a neutral monetary policy stance over the next six months. The decision reflects current inflation trends and expected macroeconomic…

Economies experience growth

THE two largest economies in the Pacific region have experienced strong commodity-led growth in recent years. However, the soon-to-be-released 2014 Asian Development Outlook by the Asian Development Bank would focus on challenges faced by Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea in translating that growth into better services and living standards. Asian Development Bank economist Milovan…