‘The Forum must do everything it can to put in place a mechanism to help land projects for Pacific Islands companies and people. For it is unlikely that such a huge opportunity will come by again any time soon.'


Perhaps one of the biggest economic opportunities ever for Pacific peoples beginning this year is the buildup of the United States military base in Guam. In relocating its elabour ate military establishment from Okinawa, Japan, to Guam, the world’s solo superpower will be spending an estimated US$10.27 billion on infrastructure and other projects.

Reports say this year alone, the United States Government will spend somewhere around US$220 million on initial ground work and the spending will continue to rise over the coming few years.

This first year in itself is a huge opportunity for both Pacific Islands contracting companies as well as individuals and some regional governments have already expressed interest in getting involved in the projects.

The governments of the smaller islands nations have particularly been interested in finding employment avenues for their people in the ongoing projects that are expected to continue for at least a few years. At present, seasonal labourers from the islands find work mainly in the horticultural sectors in New Zealand and Australia but there is no reason why it cannot be extended to the building and infrastructure industry in the Northern Pacific.

Fastest off the blocks to pursue all these opportunities, especially in the building and engineering sector, has been New Zealand, having already sent a business delegation under the auspices of the New Zealand Business Council along with a government minister to seek out the opportunities in Guam last year. The United States ambassador in New Zealand has encouraged both New Zealand and the Pacific Islands to make the best of the opportunities over the coming years.

Unfortunately though, the islands, because of their remoteness, small size, feeble voice and poor information systems, may actually end up missing the bus. Unless that is, they organise themselves and sell the idea as a united front to the United States’ contracting agencies in Guam—and perhaps at the Pentagon from where the whole project is being coordinated.

The islands’ most credible platform and in fact their best bet to put up this united front, we say, would have to be the Pacific Islands Forum—and it is a bit of a disappointment that this huge opportunity did not get the importance it deserved at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting in Nuku’alofa last October Imagine 12,000 skilled labourers will be required to support the relocation of the US Marines.

Such a huge economic opportunity was too important not to be discussed in detail at the Forum. In fact a full blown strategy should have been in place at the end of it to represent the islands’ capabilities, considerable labour force and the inherent strength of their local knowledge to the United States authorities. Perhaps if we are serious about the opportunity, the Forum should on behalf of the islands consider attending an industry forum meeting scheduled for early February. This is where all those interested in business and construction opportunities generated by the buildup will meet.

And that too in a year which has been dedicated by the United States administration as the “Year of the Pacific”. It indeed comes as a surprise that no Pacific Islands leader attending the summit thought it fit to address this with the seriousness it deserved. It should have been one of the most important points for discussion for it offers an economic opportunity like never before.

This now leaves the islands to do their own individual selling at a tremendous cost and a needless duplication of efforts.

Of course the first preference for contracts and employment would be offered to the United States’ territories in the Northern Pacific—Guam itself, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas and Palau—besides the Marshall Islands, which is no longer a US-administered territory. But these territories have small populations and they would hardly fill up the needed numbers of skilled and unskilled hands for the umpteen infrastructure projects that will come up over the next few years.

But if the islands of the South Pacific are not on the radar of those doling out the contracts and employing people on behalf of the United States armed forces, the jobs and contracts could well find their way outside the region to countries like developing Pacific Rim nations such as the Philippines and even Indonesia.

It is still not too late for the Forum to step in even now—for it is the only organisation that has both the critical mass and the mandate of the islands governments to make its voice heard by the United States’ powerful authorities and negotiate from a position of strength. It must also interface with the United States’ regional offices like the embassy in Fiji to push the case of the islands.

And just lobbying will not be enough. The Forum must then help form a secretariat to coordinate efforts among the islands, and more importantly, build a database across the islands of companies and contractors that can actually participate in the thousands of tasks the multiple projects will bring in their wake.

The Forum has provided similar assistance to the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) by affording it space for a secretariat in its sprawling premises in Suva and even nominating senior personnel dedicated to PIPSO. If that has been done, then why not have a similar secretariat and a strategy to help the member countries’ industry tap the opportunities in Guam?

In fact, PIPSO itself can play a major role in all this-now that it has announced its new interactive website. Since it is meant to serve the interests of the islands’ private sector, it can well match up its database to the capabilities required for the Guam projects.

Individual islands governments could then tap into the database to place their skilled and semi-skilled citizens in positions that would show up on the website. Information technology driven by the web can be put to use with great effect for projects like these. It is only limited by the imagination.

The Forum must do everything it can to put in place a mechanism to help land projects for Pacific Islands companies and people. For it is unlikely that such a huge opportunity will come by again any time soon. It would be unfortunate if the islands end up missing the bus—all for the want of some imagination, a coordinated approach and a united voice.