Newsletter
August 2007

This will be the last newsletter before our Annual General Meeting which is scheduled for 03 October. A review of the Chamber's Objectives and Accomplishments is being prepared and this will be posted on our web site so that members will be able to see the details prior to the AGM and prepare any questions or comments for the Board to address. There are many good news stories to be told of achievements during the year and it is hoped that there will be a good attendance by our membership.

The main item of news has been the signing of a contract by the government to proceed with the fibre optic cable project. The cable should be in place towards the middle of next year and this will allow the proposed Call Center project to proceed, and provide high speed connectivity for radio, TV, telephone and computer operators. It is hoped that significant levels of new employment will result from all this activity.

Apart from the cable there is not much good economic news across the industry sectors, particulary in automotive, construction and retail who all report sluggish trading conditions. One of the canneries announced the establishment of a pouch line which has been in doubt for a while now, and this should lead to some new employment opportunities. Bank deposits remain strong but it would seem that there is still an air of apprehension in commercial sectors surrounding the recent minimum wage increase particularly if the escalation clause is not removed.

Final drafting of legislation that will be sent to the Fono is almost complete to gain approval for the setting up of the tourist office as an independent Bureau staffed by an experienced Executive Director and support staff to really get on with the job of improving our tourist industry. The government needs to look very carefully at the present list of countries whose citizens have their passports impounded upon arrival in the territory. This action presents a negative impression of the territory and it could be a serious deterent to tour and travel operators who will not bother to put us on their itineraries when word of this type of action spreads amongst tourists.

The recent South Pacific Games in Apia took a lot of disposable income out of our system here as many people flew across to Samoa to join the teams and offer their support, and it was regretable that no effort was made to capitalise on the large number of overseas visitors to the Games who could have been encouraged to visit us here for a day or so for some site seeing and shopping. It would have given us a much needed boost to our retail economy.

Look forward to seeing you all at the Annual General Meeting.

David Robinson
President