THE Australian Government initiative, Strongim Bisnis, through a partnership with C-Corp Limited has been trialling a new drying technology in Solomon Islands. This project also aimed to improve the access to market for cocoa wet bean sellers. This support included efforts to improve the quality and quantity of cocoa produced by farmers, and increase farmers’ supply to the export market. C-Corp is a Solomon Islands cocoa export company that aggregates cocoa for sale to overseas markets and sells cocoa beans to its subsidiary, Solomons Gold. Solomons Gold is a company that makes award-winning, boutique 'bean-to-bar' chocolate using 100 percent Solomon Islands cocoa. Solomons Gold chocolate is sold internationally in countries such as New Zealand and Australia. Australian High Commission, First Secretary Economics, Cailin Lucas, said “The Australian Government is partnering with the Solomon Islands Government to support farmers to increase resilience against the current economi...

THE people of Malaita Outer Islands are continuing to experience food shortages. Salt water intrusion and storm surges are affecting their garden patches, making it difficult for them to rely on subsistence agriculture.  Because of this, the government through the National Disaster Council (NDC) office is sending relief supplies to Malaita Outer Islands (MOI). A statement from NDC said 50 tonnes of rice have been loaded into a chartered carrier vessel and set to depart Honiara port Wednesday night. “A total of 2727 bags of rice should be delivered on the islands in the next two days. “The relief supply route will start at Luaniua to Pelau and cross to Sikaiana islands,” the statement said. The statement adds that National Disaster Operations Committee (N-DOC) sector field officers are also ready for deployment to the islands on this trip. “Officers of the Livelihood, Education, Health, Safety and Security (police) sectors. Other supporting agencies include Immigrations, Customs and...

BY GEORGINA KEKEA A former Prime Minister who is also an economist says he supported an article published by Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Joseph D Foukona.  Similar sentiments were shared by the Opposition leader. The article written by Foukona first appeared on The Interpreter, published by the Lowy Institute. Lowy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan think tank, based in Sydney. In his article Foukona said there is an urgent need to examine whether the government has politicised the state of emergency and whether its behaviour really is constitutional after all. Foukona said the regulations give the Prime Minister the power to make orders to restrict the movement of people, vessels and aircrafts, restrict assembly, suspend the media and declare a public place as an emergency zone.  He said these restrictions could infringe people’s fundamental rights, such as the right to movement, free association and freedom of expression as provided for by...

-SICCI MEDIA Sunday 1 March, Honiara – Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister Hon James Marape arrived in Solomon Islands on Thursday 27th February 2020 for has been described as a historical three-day state visit. Apart from the entourage of high-level government officials, Ministers and the media accompanying such state visit, there was also a delegation comprising of 42 business representatives from PNG. This included Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), General Managers and important business executives from some of the biggest companies and organisations in PNG. This is the first or the biggest business delegation to have visited Solomon Islands highlighting renewed efforts by leaders to strengthen business links between the two Melanesian countries. The Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) hosted a luncheon on Friday 28th February at the Mendana Kitano Hotel for Prime Minister Marape and his delegation. As the peak body representing busines...

  By OWEN TALO TOURISM is poised to be the next leading industry to drive the national economy by bringing more economic activities, generate revenue, provide employment and more importantly, play an important role in our economic growth. Recently local journalists attended a weeklong workshop to learn more about the economics of tourism.  Director of tourism in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Barney Sivoro highlighted that tourism is a cross cutting or cross sectorial industry which means everybody needs to play their part for the industry to grow. “The moment a tourist arrives at the airport, a taxi that transports the tourist gets paid for taking him to his hotel,” Sivoro said. “At the hotel there are staff waiting for him including those who prepare his room down to those who cook food for the guest, the chefs, and those waiters at the hotel restaurant, those barmen and women who serve him the drinks,” he added. “At the kitchen there are fresh far...

By OLIGAO NINIU TOURISM accommodation providers must follow the Minimum Standards requirements set by the Tourism Division within the Ministry of Culture & Tourism. Speaking to journalists during the Economics of Tourism training for Solomon Islands journalists this week, Director of Tourism Barney Sivoro said the minimum standards is vital to the growth of the industry.  Sivoro said many accommodations need to upgrade so our tourism sector can meet the visitors’ demand for quality rooms. Director Tourism, Barney Sivoro Minimum Standards are a set of measurable criteria that outlines items and services that must be in place for a tourism accommodation to operate according to internationally recognized standards. Sivoro said the country has 1000 available rooms, but many of them do not meet the Tourism Accommodation Minimum Standards. This was also emphasized by Tourism Solomon CEO, Josefa Tuamoto who says,“we need 400 quality rooms to meet the demand...

BY JENNIFER KUSAPA The poor state of Provincial airstrips is a major problem facing tourism operators in the country. Mereoni Adimaisau of Tavanipupu Island Resort at Marau shared her experience that they lost revenue due to flight cancellation and also bad weather. She said, “the airstrip at Marau is a problem because if its wet the plane can’t land.” She says the loss of revenue affects those in remote areas. Meanwhile Joyce Konofilia National Consultant and Advisor in the Policy and Implementation unit of the Prime Minister’s Office said that Government is serious on improving the Tourism industry in the country and there are plans in place to help develop the industry. She said in terms of improving infrastructure like the provincial airstrips, the government is working on it and have been visiting certain provinces already to upgrade the domestic airports. “Inside the policy unit we have different sectors and the productive sector we have the Mini...

By LASALOSI BENNETT The speed and drop in prices of the internet has provided more opportunities for Solomon Islanders in the tourism and accommodation sector. Airbnb, is amongst some online platforms that are providing revenue for ordinary Solomon Islanders. Oligao Niniu, the communication and public relations officer within the Ministry of Culture and Tourism says, "It is useful for small accommodation providers because now they can market their services at a much cheaper rate. Ender Naomi Rence, Director of Imperial Travel Service says, “Whilst the demand for our services has drastically declined in the past years due to the internet, our services is still important for coordination and effective facilitation of incoming tourists to their respective destination." She raises the issue of tax and how such a platform is taking away revenue from government. Rence says “this is something worth looking into by the responsible authorities,” This arti...

By IAN M.KAUKUI CHALLENGES the country’s tourism operators face are numerous and varied. Among them is irregular and unreliable air service. Mereoni Adimaisau manages the iconic Tavanipupu Island Resort, located in the Marau Sound, east of Guadalcanal. A Fijian of 40 years experiences managing resorts in Fiji, Cook Islands and Tahiti, Adimaisau shared real challenges she had encountered while preparing to meet and greet her international guests. She was speaking to a group of journalists attending a five-day workshop on the “Economics of Tourism” in Honiara this week. Mereoni discussing the issues faced by operators On one occasion, she said a Swedish couple who booked their honey-moon at Tavanipupu could not make it to the resort because the local airline operator failed to get them to Marau Airfield. “In fact the couple were already on the Solomon Airlines flight that was scheduled to fly to Parasi, Gwaunaru’u and then on to Marau,” Adimaisau said. “Solom...

By EDDIE OSIFELO WOMEN vendors at the Honiara Craft Centre are struggling to sell their products to domestic and international visitors since its opening on 2nd November 2018. This was due to low turnout of customers or tourists to purchase their products like carvings, fashion clothes like lava-lava printing, artifacts, art works and paintings. According to Solomon Islands National Art Gallery (SINAG), some of the carvings are the finest in the Pacific region and made from rose wood, kerosene wood, king and queen ebony wood with shell inlays. Other products displayed include hand woven products ranging from baskets, mats, fans, light shades, fruit trays, coffee tables, table mats, coasters, clutch purse etc.  SINAG said these products are woven by artisans from different provinces throughout the Solomon Islands. Dalcy Rex of Marovo in Western province said in good weeks, the income was around $5000 a day. She said sometimes their products were not so...