Page 6 - IB July 2018

We say

Today, Solomon Islands stands on the cusp of a bright future supported by a

growing private sector

has assumed the role of his country’s leading academic and
regional voice on conflict.
He is the Director of the Centre of Pacific Island Studies at the
Univeristy of Hawaii and has written extensively on governance,
natural resources development, conflicts, post-conflict develop-
ment, international intervention, peace-making, Australian for-
eign policies, and political developments in Melanesia in general,
and Solomon Islands in particular.
Any discussions of Solomon Islands leaders would be incom-
plete without mention of Dr Transform Aqorau, former CEO of
the Parties to the Nauru Agreement and instrumental in the
protection of fishing stocks for Pacific people.
His no-nonsense stance at international meetings ensured
a fair price for tuna sold by the region’s major producers and
gained reluctant respect from the representatives of Distant Water
Fishing Nations.
While these men may not stand for elections, they show the
calibre of leaders produced by the country.
One person who will stand for elections is former Foreign
Affairs Secretary, Peter Kenilorea Junior, son of the country’s
founding Prime Minister.
Kenilorea Junior has worked at the United Nations for 18 years
working in the areas of good governance and the eradication of
corruption, financial abuse and mismanagement.
These are some of the biggest challenges which face the Solo-
mon Islands today.
In 2000 the people of the Solomon Islands went through
perhaps their darkest hour so far when
the country descended into communal
Brighter future is violence.
ahead Ethnic war started due to the huge rural
to urban drift and absence of a credible
land tenure system and housing.
THE Solomon Islands celebrated 40 years of independence this Families were displaced, people were killed, law and order
month. descended into chaos and the economy hit a brick wall.
Despite four decades of tumultuous and often debilitating na- Six years later frustrations overflowed again with attacks on
tional events the Happy Isles remain positive that the best times the Chinese community.
are yet to be seen and positive changes to With the intervention of its neighbours through the Regional
the economy are on the horizon. Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands, order was gradually
Producer of leaders In order to overcome its unfortunate restored and governance structures rebuilt.
and luminaries past, the Solomon Islands will need to draw Today the country stands on the cusp of a brighter future sup-
on the wealth of wisdom and knowledge ported by a growing private sector.
that exists in its remarkably well-educated Although small compared to other regional countries and inter-
society. nationally, the private sector is still the mainstay of the economy
Through its history as a British protectorate and later as an because it is where jobs are created and it is where goods and
independent nation, the country has ensured that potential lead- services are being marketed.
ers received the best education possible at home and abroad. Dennis Meone of the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce
This investment has paid off for the Pacific which has benefitted and Industry has warned, however, that while potential exists,
from the work of such Solomon Islands luminaries as Dr Jimmie the correct priorities must first be put in place.
Rodgers – anaesthetist and former Director-General of the then He pointed to the need for continuing policy dialogue between
South Pacific Commission. government and private sector and a collective vision for the
Dr Rodgers’ term at the SPC was a period of rapid reform in national economy spanning 20 to 40 years.
regional institutions. He led the organisation through what is If the private sector and government can cooperate, investments
now recognised as the single largest reform process of a regional should go ahead with the benefits spreading to even the most
organisation in the Pacific. remote communities.
In doing so he set the platform for the long-term viability of Tourism is one of the largely untapped industries in the Solo-
the region’s leading technical agency. mon Islands but its visitors bureau has launched a huge global
More recently, Hawaii-based scholar Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka campaign to attract tourists.

6 Islands Business, July 2018