Islands Business February 2020 edition
February
Pacific fighting the plastic plague
Visit the Plastic Adrift website and you can place a little rubber duck on a spot of your choice and see how plastic pollution spreads. Place your duck just off the east coast of Australia, and the simulation shows
Economy 2020: A rocky start
The Coronavirus outbreak, the Australian bushfires, continuing US-China geopolitical and trade tensions and damage caused by Tropical Cyclones Tino and Sarai have seen 2020 get off to a difficult start in our
Smart Aid Not More Aid
An honest and critical appraisal by donors, recipient nations and other stakeholders is critical if the region is to take advantage of every donor dollar and show growth that truly impacts Pacific people’s daily lives
2020: The year for a PNG anti-corruption commission
The Chairman of Transparency International PNG, Peter Aitsi, expects the Marape government to establish an oft-promised anti-corruption commission to be set up by the end of 2020, paving the way for an improvement in
FNPF challenges…and regional opportunities
The Fiji National Provident Fund continues to be concerned by low levels of savings by its members on retirement and the need to extend its coverage to the informal sector. The FNPF says that in 2019, 66 per cent
Back to the drawing board
For the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), COP25 in Spain was viewed with great optimism and hope. A number of issues and developments contributed to that frame of mind. However, the Conference proved a disappointment. In the
Teti triumphs in Twickenham
Fiji’s die-hard rugby followers did not know whether to be more shocked by their B team’s win against some of the world’s star rugby players in England last November, or by the realisation that they knew very
New Fiji: Our Communal Farm
There I was on my balcony, settled in comfortably on an old couch, surveying my neighbourhood while savouring my first “bilo” (bowl) of “kava” for the day. In the midst of the normal Western heat, I felt that at
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
Every week Mission Pacific’s bottle buy-back centre in Suva is visited by a wide variety of Fiji residents and businesses with very different motivations for bringing in their PET bottles. Some of them are driven by
InDepth: Meeting the new guard
SPC’s New Director General Stuart Minchin What are his first impressions, why does he think his new role is “an opportunity to serve” and how will ensure SPC’s members met their people’s needs in the
