Page 8 - IB April 2021

Briefs Briefs

American Samoa French Polynesia
Critical labour shortages continue at StarKist Samoa, with the French Polynesia plans to reopen its borders for tourists from
cannery struggling to meet demand. American Samoa’s largest May 1, 2021. The announcement follows a meeting between
employer has suggested people already on-island whose Im- Edouard Fritch, President of French Polynesia and French
migration status might be “problematic” may be able to work President Emmanuel Macron in Paris this month. French
with government approval. Polynesia’s government says the situation in the territory has
clearly improved and the pandemic there is under control
with less than 20 new cases per week. New entry formali-
ties taking into account vaccinated people and immunised
travellers are currently being finalised. “We are going to put
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in place a protocol at the entry of our borders using virologi-
Northern Marianas casino operator Imperial Pacific has man- cal testing, serological testing, vaccine and ETIS (Electronic
aged to stave off the sale of its assets, reaching a deal with Travel Information System),” a government statement says.
the US Labour department to make a series of payments total-
ling US$1.4 million this year. It will also have to pay workers’
backpay and entitlements.
Guam
Government moves to cut its workforce have been avoided The economic impacts of the pandemic left 13,850 Guama-
with CNMI Governor Ralph Torres saying it has secured fund- nians jobless at the end of last year according to the Guam
ing which will allow it to keep on all government workers. Department of Labour. That puts the unemployment rate at
It reverses an earlier directive that cut workers, citing the 19.4%, as compared to 6.1% a year earlier. Construction was
depressed economy and lack of budgetary funding. the only industry to show job growth in Guam in 2020.

Cook Islands Kiribati
The minimum wage in the Cook Islands will remain at Kiribati’s president Taneti Maamau says the grounding of Air
NZ$8(US$5.61) per hour for the year 2021-2022. The decision Kiribati’s Dash 8 is not currently costing the government a lot
to hold the current rate comes soon after the New Zealand of money as the aircraft’s pilots have been laid off. Kiribati
government announced it will increase the NZ minimum wage is looking to eventually add smaller planes to its fleet for
to $20 an hour, prompting fears Cook Islanders may have more domestic services.
incentive to move to NZ.

Nauru
Federated States of Micronesia Nauru has received a total of 17,200 doses of the AstraZeneca
FSM is preparing for a construction boom with some US$400 vaccine and will be able to fully immunise its adult popula-
million worth of capital improvement projects now under- tion of 7000. Australia and India have assisted in securing and
way in all four states. However, Pohnpei-registered private enabling delivery of the vaccines. President Lionel Aingimea
contractors are concerned they won’t be able to compete says although Nauru is receiving the vaccines from two differ-
with foreign contractors because they lack necessary equip- ent countries, there is no difference other than the packaging
ment, manpower, licenses, or cash reserves to take on major and labelling.
projects. Meanwhile, an FSM building code is to be developed.

Fiji New Caledonia
110 Fijian peacekeepers in Iraq and Sinai have tested positive New Caledonia has fared better throughout the COVID-19
for COVID-19. Fiji Military Forces Commander, Rear Admiral crisis than other Pacific Island countries a recent report re-
Viliame Naupoto, said they are undergoing treatment, are in leased by the Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Network has disclosed.
quarantine and will resume their deployment after they re- PTI New Zealand Trade Commissioner Glynis Miller said the
cover. Meanwhile, a Fijian soldier who died of a heart attack proportion of businesses in New Caledonia that were fully op-
in Iraq this month had also tested positive for COVID-19. erational at the end of 2020 was significantly higher with 94%
compared to 34% for the rest of the Pacific, although escalat-
ing freight costs is proving a challenge. The report showed
that the by the end of 2020, the revenue of nearly a third of

8 Islands Business, April 2021