BY Ernest Ta'asi Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce & Industry The Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI) joined regional working groups of the coconut industry at a meeting in Fiji that aims to increase the understanding of the coconut value chain in the Pacific. The Solomon Islands delegation to the meeting was led by Rudolf Dorah representing the Pacific Private Sector Coconut Industry Working Group and other private sector representatives. SICCI’s Export Industry & Development Officer (EIDO) John Paul Alasia attended the meeting on SICCI’s behalf and was part of discussions by 23 representatives from eight Pacific island countries at the “Pacific Coconut Sector Value Chain Working Group Meeting” that took place in Nadi, Fiji on 11 – 12 December 2017. The meeting was initiated by the Coconut Industry Development for the Pacific (CIDP) program to help stakeholders and farmers in the Pacific coconut industry to better understand the ...

BY Stephen Diisango Ministry of Finance & Treasury THE Ministry of Finance & Treasury (MoFT) staff has been highly commended for their commitment and effort rendered towards the Ministry and in facilitating government services.  Deputy Prime Ministry (DPM) and the Minister responsible for the Ministry of Finance & Treasury (MoFT) Manasseh Sogavare made the acclamation during the Ministry’s (MoFT) 2017 Christmas Party held at the Pacific Casino Hotel on Friday 8 December in Honiara. The event has pulled in together all divisional staff within the Ministry (MoFT) where they interact and mingle with each other as they relish to the Christmas Chants (Carol) put on stage by each division. It was a colourful gala as all Ministry’s division wore their alluring outfits tailored in various colour and pattern to party the time (event). Officers from Customs division within the Ministry of Finance & Treasury  The highlight of the event was the Choi...

BY Stephen Diisango Ministry of Finance & Treasury DEPUTY Prime Minister (DPM) and the Minister responsible for the Ministry of Finance & Treasury (MoFT) Manasseh Sogavare says for the country to make any progress it must move beyond business as usual and make deliberate policy choices. Mr Sogavare was speaking during the Ministry of Finance & Treasury (MoFT) 2017 Christmas party held on Friday 8 December at the Pacific Casino Hotel in Honiara. “…we must move beyond business as usual and make deliberate policy choices if we are to make any progress. There is enormous potential in this country of ours, but this will remain untapped if we do not take the initiative to convert the potential into tangible wealth that will improve our economic standing and the living standards of our citizens. “Our area of strength is in our bountiful natural resources, rich and diverse cultures, beautiful beaches, potential attractive tourist sites and activities, acres of arable agri...

BY Stephen Diisango National Statistics Office Ministry of Finance THE National Statistics Office within the Ministry of Finance & Treasury has been bestowed with three top award this year (2017). The awards were presented to NSO during the MoFT 2017 Christmas Party held at the Pacific Casino Hotel in Honiara on Friday 8 December 2017. The three awards are; Permanent Secretary’s (PS) Golden Star Award, Staff of the year Award and the Section of the year Award. The PS award is the highest of all the awards of the MoFT rewards and recognition program initiated since 2013. And this year (2017) the top award (PS Golden Star Award) for best performing individual in MoFT has been awarded to NSO through Mrs. Anterlyn Tuzakana, Chief Statistician (Acting), Social Demographic Section while the Staff of the Year Award was given to Anna Pitaboe Principal Statistician, Social Demographic Section and the MoFT Section (Divisional) Award of the year was also granted to NSO, Socia...

BY Georgina Kekea MASI Secretariat The Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) briefly met with media personals working within the Government Ministries, Private Sector and Non-Government Organisations today 14 th December 2017. Organised by the MASI Secretariat, the meeting was mainly to highlight the current function of MASI, its mission and vision and how best these stakeholders can work together to achieve the aims and objectives of MASI. MASI Staff with PR Officers Speaking to participants on this occasion, MASI CEO, Ms Hilda Lamani said ‘this meeting is very important for MASI especially hearing from the Public Relation Officers and Communication Officers the challenges they face in their working environment. “With MASI’s aim to strengthen the independence and capability of media in the country, the feedback will help us to understand the needs of the media and how we can move together to communicate to the public effectively. This will also strengthen...

High-level representatives from across the sector at COP23 Finance for Climate Day had highlighted their efforts to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement. The high-level representatives underlined that this challenge of coodination and coherence needed to be addressed quickly. Raising ambition to act on climate change and raising the large amount of finance needed to do it are so completely inter-connected that governments and the entire financial sector must see it as a single challenge. Eric Usher, Head of UNEP Finance Initiative said, "At the heart of the climate challenge are two gaps we urgently need to bridge: the ambition and the investment gap.” “ It is up to national governments now to increase the ambition of their NDCs to close the 17 GtCO2e emissions gap that we still face for 2030. When it comes to the investment gap, however, we need all financial players - public, private, domestic, international - and including markets and regulators, to work...

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23), the World Health Organization, in collaboration with the UN Climate Change secretariat and in partnership with the Fijian Presidency of the twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP23), has launched a special initiative to protect people living in Small Island Developing States from the heath impacts of climate change. The vision is that, by 2030, all Small Island Developing States will have health systems that are resilient to climate change and countries around the world will be reducing their carbon emissions both to protect the most vulnerable from climate risks and deliver large health benefits in carbon-emitting countries. South Tarawa, Kiribati (Photo World Bank) The initiative has 4 main goals. First, to amplify the voices of health leaders in Small Island Developing States, so they have more impact at home and internationally. Second, to gather the evidence to support the business c...

SI High Commissioner to Australia, H.E Collin Beck (Photo from Twitter) BY GEORGINA KEKEA Bonn, Germany SOLOMON Islands is leading discussions on behalf of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on the 'Global stocktake'.  This was revealed by the lead negotiator of the Solomon Islands delegation to the COP23, High Commissioner to Australia, Collin Beck. High Commissioner Beck said Solomon Islands is the co-ordinator for discussions on the Global stocktake a term that refers to a five yearly review of 'impact change actions' by countries. Under the Paris Agreement, every country must present a climate action plan in five-yearly cycles.   Commissioner Beck said Solomon Islands is coordinating the discussions on Global stocktake to ensure that every country step up to do their fair share in containing the emission of CO2.  ‘The challenge now is for us to make sure that we live up to the spirit of the Paris Agreement which we’ve agreed to’.  Comm...