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Clark sets the ball rolling
Up to 5000 workers from six Pacific Islands countries will be able to work temporarily in New Zealand under plans to ease labour shortages on orchards and vineyards. They will work under a trial temporary work visa scheme announced by Prime Minister Helen Clark at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting last month.
The scheme, for workers from Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, follows major difficulties in attracting seasonal workers to the horticultural and viticultural industries.
It goes some way towards meeting calls for greater labour mobility from members of the Pacific Islands Forum. Under the scheme, employers will have to give first preference to Kiwi workers, but if there are still shortages, preference would then be given to the six identified countries.
According to New Zealand reports, it is understood employers will be required to pay reasonable rates and take steps to ensure workers do not overstay. Those that fail to comply will be banned from the scheme. Countries that produce large numbers of overstayers could also be banned from participation. If successful, the scheme is expected to be extended to other Pacific countries.
EU’s interest in the Pacific
The European Union (EU) says its interest in the Pacific is not only in the EU having access to the Pacific’s fishing grounds but to help conserve and sustainably develop this vital industry.
The assurance came from the EU’s director general for development, Anthanasios Theodorakis, in his statement to the Pacific ACP Leaders in Nadi . In the coming European Development Fund (EDF10) programme, which begins in 2008, the EU has set aside 79 million Euros, part of which it hopes would be used to help Pacific Islands nations conserve their marine and land resources for the use of their future generations.
The EU’s resident representative in Fiji, Dr Roberto Ridolfi, told PACNEWS that renewed EU’s interest in the Pacific is in the areas of natural and human resources development. However, he has cautioned all Pacific ACP countries to ensure their national commitments under the 9th EDF are committed before the end of 2007.
ANZ repositions for better growth
One of the largest banks in the Pacific, ANZ is reviewing its back-office processes to ensure it is better positioned for growth.
Says Mike Guerin, bank’s managing director for the Pacific, the two-year review “Programme Enable” will identify areas the bank could improve on. These solutions are expected to be applied across the bank’s 10 branches and its office in New Caledonia.
“This focus on growth will also result in an overall increase in the total number of jobs in the Pacific,” Guerin says.
“ANZ is operating in a global marketplace that is constantly changing. We have an obligation to our customers, people, community, environment and stakeholders to build an operating platform that will allow ANZ to grow in a sustainable way in the future.
“A key objective of the programme is to reduce the inherent operating risks associated with banking in the Pacific, including money laundering, which is a growing risk facing Pacific Islands nations. Our business is strong in the Pacific which gives us a great deal of time to enhance our business in a way that supports our agenda and aligns with our ANZ values.”
ANZ envisages the centralisation of some processes to Fiji-based Quest but has given its assurance there would be no job losses.
Quest is a subsidiary of ANZ established in Suva as the hub for operational support for ANZ in 11 countries across the Pacific and some Asian operations.
China’s 2010 World Expo
China has invited Pacific Islands countries to participate in the 2010 World Expo to be held in Shanghai. And it has given them until 2009 to register their participation in order to access financial assistance.
So far, seven Pacific countries have confirmed their participation—Australia, Federated States of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Palau, Tonga and Vanuatu. The theme of the World Expo 2010 is “Better City, Better Life”.
Deputy director general of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, Huang Yaocheng said the Chinese Government has promised it would provide financial assistance to developing countries including the Pacific participating in the world event. He has urged other Pacific Islands countries to confirm their participation as the world event is the best opportunity to showcase the Pacific nations to its 1.3 billion people.
Grey power
In a projection, which perfectly highlights the fact that an ageing but increasingly-wealthy and mobile Asian population represents a boon for the travel sector, Chinese elders are being tipped to spend about 1.4 trillion yuan a year by 2010 (US$177.22 billion), according to a senior official from the country’s aging commission.
The proportion of elders’ annual expenditures to the total consumption will rise from the current 9.67 percent to 11.39 percent in 2010 and reach 28.29 percent in 2050, said Li Bengong, vice-director of the general office of the commission.
About 70 percent of the elders plan to travel after they retire, since the country has more and more elders whose purchasing power is getting stronger and stronger, so the country’s aging tourism market will face a larger demand, said Xiong Bijun, chairman of the aging research institute of China’s Academy of Social Sciences.
The local media reported that the annual income of China’s tourism industry was 400 billion yuan in 2004, accounting for five percent of the GDP. The elders accounted for 20 percent of the whole tourism industry, which equals to 80 billion yuan. By 2005, it reached 100 billion yuan, according to the national tourism authority.
Cooks’ chief censor cracks whip
Cook Islands’ chief censor Alfred Morris is stepping up moves to make sure all movies, DVDs and videos shown in the Cook Islands are censored and censorship reflects community attitudes.
He told the Cook Islands Times of concerns over the lack of enforcement of the Censorship Act by Police, indicated by a 65 percent drop in censorship fees from video outlets. Morris was trying to get the police to fulfill their responsibilities to enforce the act through regular checks at video businesses, the newspaper said.
Blanket ban on PNG log exports
A blanket ban has been placed by the European Union (EU) on what it describes as Papua New Guinea’s illegal log exports. It’s negotiating with China, the country’s biggest log importer, to do likewise. The World Bank may also follow suit, if PNG fails to identify failures in forest law enforcement and governance. The EU told a regional seminar on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance, held in Port Moresby, that European countries, mostly the Group of Eight or G8, have agreed not to purchase timber from PNG that are not legally certified.
This refers to controversial logs that leave the shores of PNG. National Broadcasting Corporation reported the EU suggested that PNG explicitly define what is “legal’ logs to meet its stringent procurement procedures. The Australian Timber Importers Federation also hinted it will not deal with timbers that are harvested in ways not permitted under the laws of the country of origin, although it did not mention PNG specifically. These statements came despite logging surveillance unit, SVS, giving the “all clear” on PNG log exports.
CNMI gets US$6.3m for income tax
The U.S Department of Treasury issued a cheque to the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas (CNMI) in the amount of US$6.2 million for income taxes it collected from U.S citizens working in the country from 1978 through to 2004. Citing the Covenant, CNMI earlier “reminded” the federal government that the taxes it collected from U.S citizens working here should be remitted to the local government. Marianas Variety reported that the CNMI originally sought about US$60 million in these “cover-over” taxes. Finance secretary Eloy Inos said the CNMI was still negotiating for the reimbursement of other taxes collected in the country by the U.S.
He said the CNMI is still claiming about US$50 million in reimbursements. According to Inos, the $6.2 million will be used to cover the CNMI government’s budget shortfall for the fiscal year 2006.
New cruise ship for PNG
Papua New Guinea has its new cruise ship, which has been described as the largest in the country. Named MV Milne Bay, it cruised into Port Moresby’s Fairfax Harbour last month signalling a new era in passenger shipping. MV Milne Bay departed Lae on October 7 on its maiden voyage to Alotau and Port Moresby. Owned by Brisbane-based Peninsula Shipping Lines, in partnership with local company Wamp Nga Holdings, the ship has a cargo capacity of more than 2000 passengers, 100 containers and 20 cars, and a cruising speed of 19 knots. Fares start from as low as K95 per passenger to K810 for the ocean view cabin and K1100 for the ocean view state rooms.
Foreign fleets stealing tuna: Greenpeace
Foreign fishing fleets are exploiting legal loopholes to steal tuna from the Pacific, according to Greenpeace, Fishupdate.com website.The conservation organisation made the claim following a two-month collaboration with fisheries enforcement officials from Pacific Islands nations.
According to Greenpeace, fleets from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, the United States and the European Union take 90 percent of the Pacific tuna. Pacific Islands receive a mere five percent of the US$2 billion profits made from their resources. Greenpeace said unless drastic actions are taken to reduce the fishing effort, bigeye and yellowfin tuna could face commercial extinction within three years.
Fiji’s rugby exports help economy
Fijian rugby players have long excelled at club teams around the world, but new figures show that the expats are also giving Fiji’s economy a major boost.
According to Fiji Rugby Union, as many as 500 players from the Pacific Island nation now play at a high level overseas. It is estimated their combined annual income totalled $11.6 million (US$6.7 million) and much of this is sent back to Fiji in remittances to family members.
Mining exports hit a 6-year high
Mining exports continue to be the engine room of the PNG economy, powering the nation’s balance sheet and driving significant international investment.
The latest figures released by the Central Bank for mineral export receipts in the second quarter of 2006 are very encouraging for the mining sector and the PNG investment community.
The Central Bank’s quarter economic bulletin reported that total mineral export receipts for the June quarter this year hit a record K3015.4 million, up 60% from K1882.3 million in the same quarter last year. This represents the highest export earnings for a single quarter since 2000.
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