Fiji Airways’ A350-degree turn
Fiji Airways’ Executive Manager Global Sales expects the airline will carry one million passengers on its flights this year. Akuila Batiweti says while this is the airline’s 2024 target, he is optimistic
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How are Pacific government-owned airlines performing?
Throwing good money after bad? An expert on State Owned Enterprises with the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Private Sector Development Initiative, Christopher Russell says the Samoan government’s experience with
Maimarosia inspires youth through indigenous Solomons music
Western influences can at times corrupt and dilute traditional Pacific indigenous music, but one Melbourne-based, Solomon Islands musician is reversing this trend. Charles Maimarosia headlined the Wantok Music
Pacific regionalism: To Hell with Drowning
Julian Aguon is from Guam and is a human rights lawyer, and founder of Blue Ocean Law, a progressive firm that works at the intersection of indigenous rights and environmental justice. He is also a writer. He wrote his
Widen tax base, spend more efficiently
World Bank's Advice to 9 Pacific Economies The World Bank says six Pacific Island countries are at high risk of debt distress, and that gradual cuts to government spending are vital for balancing budgets and avoiding
Cyber Food Fiji: From near defeat to survival
Technology has provided a fair share of both challenges and opportunities for Majid Shahzad, CEO and Founder of Cyber Food Fiji. When he started the business in 2018, Shahzad had just one vehicle, three partner
Digitising without data
Pacific policy makers need support A recent United Nations report on the Digital Economy has recommended the formation of an ‘Institute for Pacific Digital Economies’ in one of the region’s universities to track
Not so innocent bystanders
Policymakers in the Pacific Islands have been urged to consider adopting laws requiring bystanders to report online violence against women and girls. The suggestion comes from an Online Bystander Report by the
Whispers
Biden cancellation disappoints The cancellation of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Papua New Guinea this month was a disappointment for PNG, which has spent months planning the visit. “We are disappointed
Briefs
American SamoaAmerican Samoa wants associate member status of the Pacific Islands Forum, after being an observer since 2011. Governor Lemanu Peleti Maunga said it was crucial for American Samoa to push for greater
Movers and Shakers
Viranria Brown is the first woman to be appointed as Vanuatu’s High Commissioner to Fiji since independence. She previously served as the First Secretary to the Vanuatu High Commission in Suva from 2020 to 2023. Fiji
Movers and Shakers
Miriam Kataunati of the Kiribati Meteorological Service (KMS) is the country’s first female Oceanographer. A graduate of the University of Fiji in Environmental Science, she started work at KMS as an Acting Assistant
What’s next for New Caledonia?
25 years after the Noumea Accord Twenty-five years ago, the French government joined supporters and opponents of independence in New Caledonia to adopt the Noumea Accord – a political agreement that mapped out a
Fiji Economic Summit: Balancing inclusivity and realpolitik
The first Fiji Economic Summit in 16 years has produced a substantial list of suggestions and requests from industry, community and political participants, which they hope will inform the upcoming national budget, and
The Pacific’s nursing crisis
'An unprecedented shortage' Pacific Heads of Health have heard that the shortage of skilled nurses in the region is “unprecedented and poses a threat to the stability, accessibility and quality of essential care
Improving Pacific Islanders health in NZ and the region
The University of Auckland has opened the first-of-its-kind research centre dedicated to Pasifika health, the Te Poutoko Ora a Kiwa (Centre for Pacific and Global Health). Centre Co-Director, Dr Roannie Ng Shiu is a
UN resolution a victory for Pacific youth
The United Nations’ adoption of a resolution calling for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the obligations of States on climate change, is a victory for the Pacific, and for a group
Project Cerulean: A vast ocean of possibility to explore
In 2018, Swire Shipping and the University of the South Pacific launched a new project to research and design a low-carbon wind powered, commercially-operated freighter to stimulate outer-island Pacific trade. Route
Opinion: Strengthening Pacific regionalism for robust globalisation
Pacific Islands Forum leaders "renewed their collective support for the ‘Leaders’ Commitments to 2050" as articulated in the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent when they met in Nadi in February. They also
WTO fisheries agreement awaits ratification
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) says members need to move faster on ratifying a fisheries agreement that would ban subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. “We need
Fiji tuna symposium considers industry’s future
Ten years ago, Suva port was one of the region’s most preferred ports for foreign vessels fishing in the western and central Pacific ocean, says the president of the Fiji Fishing Industry Association (FFIA). Speaking
Fish surveys in your pocket
The era of filling out paper forms, mountains of paperwork, and cabinets full of documents containing fish catch surveys could be nearing an end with the increased uptake of the Ikasavea app. The Pacific Community (SPC)
Rob Ruha champions Te Reo Maori in his songs
“It’s really cool” was Maori musician, Rob Ruha’s reaction to recently topping the Pacific charts with his song Taera. “I’m a little bit overwhelmed being number one on the Pacific charts,” says
