Page 13 - IB Jan 2018

2018 Outlook Back in the House Lord Fakavanua Politics Fiji’s high cost of living on
election agenda P14
returns as Tongan Speaker P18

land President Tong’s administration had
bought in Fiji. Initially it was said that the
land would house i-Kiribati nationals that
would need to move out of their atolls due
to rising sea levels, but the government
of President Taneti prefers to use the land
for agriculture.
2018 is general election year for Cook
Islands and Prime Minister Henry Puna
and his ruling Cook Islands Party will
growth and mounting overseas debt, with have to go back to the electorate for a fresh the United Kingdom, President Heine saw
China especially. mandate. Things have been quiet in the the litigation through when she took office
UNESCAP was predicting a 2.6 to 2.7 political scene in the Cooks after an at- in 2016, only to see it being shot down
growth rate for Tonga for 2017 and 2018 tempt by the opposition to oust Puna in a by the International Court of Justice in
respectively, to be driven mostly by con- confidence motion last year. Its economy The Hague. She is also relying on fishing
struction activity in preparation for the was hoping for a 4 per cent growth last revenue to drive economic growth.
kingdom’s hosting of the 2019 Pacific year, helped by growth in tourism due to Using his country as a refugee process-
Games. Pohiva before the snap elections additional flights from Australia and New ing centre for Australia plus the windfall
last year formally withdrew from hosting Zealand. Communication infrastructure from fishing revenue as a member of PNA
the games citing financial difficulties, so suffered a huge setback late last year have been good for the small economy
the UN agency would have to when fire destroyed the Bluesky Telecom’s of Nauru. Last year it was projected
relook at its projections. His main hub although the company worked that its economy would grow by 15 per
government will also have to quickly to restore services. cent. President Baron Waqa aided by his
defend itself from a US$5 mil- The new year will give President justice minister David Adeang has suc-
lion lawsuit brought against it Pohiva Tommy Remengesau of Palau another cessfully shut down their po-
by the Pacific Games Council 12 months to revolunatise his litical opponents and removed
for bailing out of the games quite late. island economy by shifting its judges or magistrates they
Kiribati, like other Parties of the Nauru reliance on fishing revenue to deem unhelpful. Waqa will take
Agreement members has been enjoying tourism. With his proposal to over as chairman of the Pacific
a windfall from high fishing access rev- ban commercial fishing on 80 Remengesau Waqa Islands Forum later in the year
enue and 2018 will give President Taneti per cent of his fishing waters, and it would be interesting to see what
Mamau another year to work on strength- the Palau leader is looking to tourism to his administration would do with the
ening the island economy. Although new pick up the revenue shortfall. Already he AUD10,000 journalist visa fee it imposes
in political leadership and having to come has been forced to reign in the number of on journalists.
into office after Anote Tong, one of Kiribati chartered flights to Palau from mainland Barring any upset in the island’s par-
‘s longest serving presidents and some China as fears mounted at the environ- liament, Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga
say one of the most successful at that, mental impact of hosting huge numbers of Tuvalu won’t need to go back to the
Mamau has been quietly working at creat- of tourists. polls until next year. The past year or so
ing more jobs for the many jobless youth Unlike Palau, its neighbours like the has seen him busy advocating for climate
that populate South Tarawa, and also to Federated States of Micronesia, Mar- justice in the international arena, and he
invest more on capital works. shall Islands, Nauru and Tuvalu are is expected to continue to do this in 2018.
At a UN conference in Mexico last year, looking at fishing fees to form bulk of their Sopoaga has also effectively shut
he announced an innovative way to fund public revenue. They are all members of down his political opponents
climate change adaptation works in his the influential PNA (Parties of the Nauru using numerous court actions
atoll nation: using the country’s trust Agreement) and all have been enjoying a convened by the Chief Justice
fund as collatoral for concession loans to windfall from fishing access fees due to appointed during his tenure.
pay for repairs and maintenance of roads, PNA’s Vessel Day Scheme. Economic growth is projected
sea walls, airstrips, bridges and other in- Federated States of Micronesia was Sopoaga at a modest 3 per cent again
frastructure. Although he is not as vocal going for a 2.5 per cent economic growth helped largely by the windfall in fishing
as his predecessor in the area of climate for both 2017 and 2018 to be fuelled of revenue.
change, Taneti has also been looking at course by fishing revenue and tourism. r editor@islandsbusiness.com
ways to develop the 2000 hectares of Presidential election is not scheduled to
take place in FSM until 2019 when the
term of current President Peter
Christian expires.
In the Marshall Islands,
President Hilda Heine has
been working quietly advocat-
ing for women and climate Heini
change. Although her administration did
not institute legal action against nuclear
capable countries of India, Pakistan and

Islands Business, January 2018 13