Tourism Fiji on research trail

Tourism Fiji is seeking an internationally-experienced market research agency to conduct research into holiday visitor source markets. The research will focus on the key source markets for Fiji’s holiday visitors: Australia, New Zealand, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and India. Ken Freer, Tourism Fiji’s director of global marketing said: “We…

Lack of business skills bug women

MANY Papua New Guinean women lack the basic skills for them to succeed as entrepreneurs. This was stressed by the prime minister’s wife Linda Babao in a remark at a fundraising breakfast sponsored by the PNG Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Babao said: “Women lack the basic knowledge in bookkeeping, budgeting, pricing, marketing, product…

Fiji central bank $39.9m transfer

THE central bank transferred $39.9million to the Fijian Government on Wednesday for the financial year ending December 31, 2013. In a statement, Reserve Bank governor Barry Whiteside said this comprised its total profit of $31.9m for the past financial year and $8m, which represented one-fifth of the balance of revaluation account as per the RBF…

The sea is rising, all is not well

VILLAGERS of Marau, east Guadalcanal, are living in fear. Sea level rise, they say, is eating away their shorelines and digging into their village. They don’t feel safer anymore. They feel their future is in jeopardy. To them, climate change is real. It is happening right before their eyes. They wanted to be relocated to…

Paralympic preparations going well

The head coach of the Solomon Islands athletes with disability says, preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Scotland is going well. The duo, Janet Sipale and Noela has been under intensive training conducted by Topue himself and guided by the president of the Solomon Islands National Paralympics Committee (SINPC), Mrs Nina Davis. The duo…

Palau signs $28.8m loan for sewage improvement

Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao and Palau’s Finance Minister and ADB Governor Elbuchel Sadang have signed a loan agreement to fund the Koror-Airai Sanitation Project, which will improve the delivery of sanitation services in Palau. “The Government of Palau must be congratulated for their integrated approach to improving sanitation and water services,” said…

Pacific growth to pick up in 2014 – ADB

Economic growth in the Pacific is projected to rise to 5.4% in 2014 from 4.8% in 2013, according to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) latest Asian Development Outlook 2014, launched in Sydney on Tuesday. Most economies across the Pacific are expected to perform better this year due to higher stimulus from the implementation of large…