Solomon Airlines and the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) have announced a new memorandum of understanding (MNOU) that will see the airline and the Bureau work together to advertise and promote the Solomon Islands overseas. The announcement was made at a gathering of the Solomon Islands business community on the night of Friday 28 February…
A deal was signed last week to extend New Zealand’s funding support to the Honiara City Council through the Honiara Economic Development Support Programme (HEDSUP) for this year. Honiara City Mayor Andrew Mua and Acting New Zealand High Commissioner Sarah Wong signed the agreement last Friday 28th February. A total amount of SDB $6.8 Million…
Tonga’s public servants were awarded a 5% pay rise in mid-February, back-dated to January, said Tufui Faletau, the acting CEO for the Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MFNP). Tufui told Matatangi Tonga the MFNP has to finance the 5% salary rise from its own internal financial sources, because government ministries could not reshuffle their…
Yesterday SPC marks the 65th anniversary of the establishment of its Headquarters in New Caledonia. Founded in 1947 under the Canberra Agreement, SPC first had its temporary headquarters in Mosman, Sydney in Australia before moving to Noumea to the former “US Headquarters – South Pacific Base Command” used by the American military forces during the…
The head of the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation says business leaders need to change their thinking about competitors and work better together to increase export opportunities. Mereia Volavola says a recent meeting in Fiji funded by the European Union, highlighted the idea of forming business clusters. She says business leaders from Papua New…
Letter from Suva, by Islands Business Managing Editor, Laisa Taga. Members of the PNA (Parties to the Nauru Agreement) meet in Honiara on March 5-14 to discuss a number of important issues pertaining to their success. For instance what to do with the US$93 million—and that is how to distribute this pot of money resulting…
Vanuatu is likely to break into the Chinese tourist market in a few years from now and the Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) is confident that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Vanuatu will increase. The biggest number of 20 Chinese approved travel agents from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are currently in the country checking out…
Commercial fishery businesses in American Samoa affected by the 2009 tsunami are set to receive assistance through United States Congress funding. The US Fisheries Services has announced 75 million US dollars will be allocated to six fisheries across the United States that were declared fishery disasters by the Department of Commerce. The executive assistant…
Samoa will host the first United Nations Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Conference to be held in the Pacific region, estimated to bring over 3,000 delegates to Apia in six months time. This international Conference will be the third conference specifically focusing on issues, challenges and priorities of countries from the three SIDS regions –…
The positive outlook of the economy, which is supported by the latest Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) retail sales and business expectation survey, is pointing towards improved prospects for consumption and investment in the coming months. This, according to the Reserve Bank of Fiji acting board chairman Robin Yarrow, meant the Fiji economy was likely…