January
2021: The diagnosis
After an incredibly challenging 2020, what will this year bring? We take a look at the economic and political prognosis and a few key sectors. Vaccinating for recovery Timely vaccination campaigns will be key to the
Bleak prospects for Pacific tourism
Pacific island countries should not expect international travel to resume in earnest until late 2021, travel and aviation experts have warned. ‘You should forget the US market for 2021, as well as Europe and the
Can Fiji’s BPOs deliver on their promise?
One of the few industries that has thrived during the coronavirus pandemic in Fiji , business process outsourcing (or BPOs) is also a sector which carries the hopes and ambitions of Fiji’s government and
Death by slow strangulation
Growing up in his settlement in Nadi, western Fiji, Sundar Lal recalls an abundance of fish, crabs and prawns in the nearby creeks, rivers and foreshore areas. “We never returned empty-handed,” he recalls.
Brawn but no brains?
A couple of years ago, a Fijian who had been engaged as deck crew on a tuna longliner was ‘offloaded’ in Hong Kong; he knew no-one there and had little money. Why was that action taken? Was he lazy, or ate ‘too
The Unfinished business of Pacer Plus
Despite the regional agreement PACER Plus coming into effect on 13 December 2020, serious weaknesses are still being pointed out, as in the influential ANU publication Development Policy Blog (DPB 25 and 26 Nov. 2020),
Derogation of State Power to the Region Not an Option
In my last article in this magazine, I referred to the structure of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and its system of decision-making as being antiquated. This was on the basis that PIF’s type of regionalism is
View from the West
I have a confession to make. Lately, I’ve been obsessed about those Asian Subterranean Termites and how they’ve caused so much destruction in our western suburbs here in Fiji. They burrow with almost silent but
Whispers
Sending a message with Seselja? In a Cabinet re-shuffle, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has appointed Liberal Senator Zed Seselja as Minister for International Development and the Pacific, replacing Alex
Pacific Briefs
American Samoa There’s new hope for American Samoans stranded in the United States since the territory’s borders closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in March. More than 500 people are estimated to be
