The Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) become the first Chamber of Commerce in the Pacific to establish a Partnership with Facebook that provided a training opportunity for local businesses to engage in an exciting session directly with of one the world’s most popular social media platform.
The ‘Boost with Facebook’ workshop saw one hundred participants from the SICCI membership attend a three-hour session aimed to equip businesses with digital skills to successfully engage with customers locally, nationally and globally.
Delivering the opening remarks at the workshop on Tuesday 22 September were SICCI Chairman, Ricky Fuo’o and Mia Garlick Director, Public Policy of Facebook Australia and New Zealand.
Mr. Fuo’o said it is vital for businesses to stay in connection with customers.
He said the potential of the tools explored during the workshop will contribute massively to business, not only to revive from the impacts of the global pandemic, but also to improve and expand, in these unprecedent time.
According to datareportal reports, there are 130,000 social media users in Solomon Islands in January 2020, almost 18% of the total population. With a population of around 700,000, this is a trend of access that is likely to continue to increase and will have impacts on how businesses interact with their customers.
In 2020, SICCI conducted a survey of its members Facebook use and found that 80% of respondents have a business Facebook page while 82% of respondents use Facebook as a marketing tool for news updates and communication.
The survey also highlighted that 72% rely on Facebook for sales and marketing and 93% strongly believes any suspension of the app will have a significant impact on customer base and will affect their sales and profits.
Mr. Fuo’o meanwhile acknowledge and thank Facebook on behalf of the SICCI Board and members for making this training a possibility which aligns well with the Chamber’s strategy of providing relevant services for its members to help their businesses.
“The workshop continues to speak of the inevitable digital era which we live in and the significance it has on businesses and livelihoods that we have to embrace as a small but growing economy,” the SICCI Chair said.
SICCI encourages businesses who attended the workshop to make use of the services and tools they learned during the to expand their business online and stay connected with customers.
-SICCI Media
