Introduction: Reconnecting with Our Pacific Soul Bula vinaka, talofa lava, malo e lelei, halo olgeta – warm Pacific greetings to you all. Esteemed leaders, respected elders, fellow academics, youth representatives, and civil society champions – thank you for the honor of addressing you today. We gather here in Honiara, alongside the Pacific Islands Forum meetings,…
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) aspires to be the Pacific’s Climate Partner of Choice. Here, I wish to outline how the Fund is committed to partnering with the Pacific to achieve greater impact in the face of the climate crisis. As leaders gather in Honiara, Solomon Islands, this week for the Pacific Islands Forum, the criticality of ambitious…
A leaders forum cannot fulfill its purpose if it silences the people it is meant to serve. Without genuine engagement, such an endeavour risks becoming unproductive and meaningless, ultimately doing a disservice to the communities it claims to represent. Leaders must remain accountable, with decisions reflecting the real needs and priorities of their people. As…
By Scott Morris Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank and Eric J. Lam Small island developing states are among the most vulnerable to climate impacts, including sea level rise, flooding, and extreme weather, despite contributing low global greenhouse gas emissions. These island nations are also heavily reliant on costly imported fossil fuels to meet their…
A specter is haunting the U.S. again – the specter of McCarthyism. Different from the 1950s when U.S. politicians on Capitol Hill were accused of subversion, this time the McCarthyist tactics are employed by the U.S. against foreigners in a hodgepodge of sectors. The boomerang of suspicion At the end of last month, out of…
By Martin Baddeley Housanau (an Economist by profession) The US-China trade war has had multifaceted and wide-ranging effects on the regional and international trade and investment dynamics, and the Solomon Islands—a small Pacific Island nation classified as an LDC or Least Developed Country — is no exception. While its direct exposure to the trade tensions…
FOR decades, the Pacific Islands region has been heavily reliant on donor funding to support development, governance, and capacity-building initiatives. While donor support has played a role in strengthening institutions, it has also created a dependency cycle where many regional organisations struggle to be financially independent and responsive to the real needs of Pacific communities.…
The Pacific in an Era of Geopolitical Fluidity Keynote Address by Professor Transform Aqorau, Vice Chancellor of SINU at the PIPSA Convention in Wellington from 20 to 21 February 2025 Introduction – A Personal Reflection on China’s Presence in the Pacific Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. (Greetings, greetings, greetings to you all,) E…
TSI: On the 11th of February, 2025, Transparency International launched the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 180 countries and territories around the world including Solomon Islands. The CPI score measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption (the Machinery of Government perceived corruption levels). The scores reflect the viewers of experts and surveys from businesspeople…
By Peter Forau Honiara SOLOMON Islands, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of approximately 20%, has one of the lowest debt burdens in the Pacific region, as highlighted by the World Bank. This fiscal prudence offers a unique opportunity for the country to leverage its debt capacity to spur economic growth through strategic deficit financing. In this…