Pacific Magazine > 2007 Pacific Almanac
Vanuatu
The Basics
Population: 221,417 (2006 SPC)
Capital: Port Vila
Land Area: 12,200 sq. km.
Political Status and Form of Government: Independent republic, member of the British Commonwealth. Democratically-elected government, multi-party system.
Languages: Bislama, English and French. The 115 'Mother tongues' are in common use.
Currency: Vatu (VT)
Number of Islands: Four main and 80 smaller islands
The Numbers
Gross Domestic Product: US$349 million (2006 est.)
Gross Domestic Product per capita: US$1,571 (2006 est.)
Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate: 7.2% (2006 ANZ)
National Budget: US$78 million revenue, US$72.23 expenditure (2005)
Aid per capita: US$34 million (2005-06)
Life Expectancy: Male: 62.85 years (2006 est.) Female:
Ethnicity: Melanesian
Nationality: Ni–Vanuatu
Age Distribution:0-14 years: 31.9%, 15-64 years: 64.3%, 65+: 3.8% (2007 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 2.5% (2005)
People in Power
Head of Government: Prime Minister Ham Lini
Head of State: President Kalkot Matas Kelekele
Cabinet Members: Ham Lini, Prime Minister and Comprehensive Reform Program; Edward Natapei, Deputy Prime Minster and Infrastructure;
Georges Andre Wells, Foreign Affairs; Willie Jimmy, Finance; Donna Browney, Agriculture; James Bule, Trade and Commerce; Morkin Stevens Iatika, Health; Joshua Kalsakau, Justice and Social Welfare; Leinavo Tasso, Education; Judah Isaac, Ni-Vanuatu Business; Roro Sambo, Sports; Maxime Carlot Korman, Lands; Serge Vohor, Public Utilities and Infrastructure.
Representative Body: 50-member Parliament elected by the people every four years. The executive consists of a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister who is elected by Parliament from among its members. The President is elected by Parliament and the National Council of Chiefs for a period of five years.
Regional Organizations
ACCT, ACP, ADB, C, FAO, FFA, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IOC, ITU, NAM, MIGA, PIF, SOPAC, Sparteca, SPC, SPREP, SPTO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, USP, WCPFC, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO (observer)
Media & Internet Service Providers
Radio: 2 AM, 4 FM including 2 new Taleva 89, Captial 107FM; BBC World, Radio Australia Asia-Pacific. TV: One. Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television.
Print: The Vanuatu Independent, The Ni-Vanuatu, Daily Post. ISP: one
Recent News
Vanuatu faced an actual earthquake and a couple of metaphorical ones in 2007.
The first upheaval came when three people died in tribal clashes in March at the Blacksands settlement near Port Vila. A Commission of Inquiry later criticized the police and government for “letting security drop down its list of top priorities.” The Inquiry also said violence would have been avoided if tribal chiefs had actively mediated between the two conflicting groups.
Vanuatu’s Minister for Internal Affairs defended the government, saying more recruitment and better resourcing of police is in the cards. One hundred and sixty people were arrested in connection with violence.
Political turmoil was also experienced in 2007 with Prime Minister Ham Lini sacking his deputy Sato Kilman and replacing him with Edward Natapei after the discovery of a multi-million dollar fraud allegedly involving a member of Kilman’s staff and party members.
Tangible damage was experienced during the 7.2 earthquake of August 2, which cracked streets, buildings and a bridge, smashing a water pipe and disrupted power supplies on Espiritu Santo.
While Vanuatu’s economy continued to perform reasonably well in 2007, its annual population growth rate means GDP per capita is not increasing. The ADB says that Vanuatu’s government forecasts growth of 4.7% in 2008. Tourism should rise on the back of improved air access and the completion of tourism projects, construction will gain from Millennium Challenge Corporation spending, and agricultural production is forecast to pick up further. But the ADB identifies risks including political instability, which could lead to ineffective public policy and harm investor confidence; lack of progress in implementing and enforcing anti-money laundering laws, which could expose the country to financial sanctions; and vulnerability to natural disasters.
In a controversial decision last year, Telecom Vanuatu imposed a ban on people using Voice Over Internet Protocol software, saying it cost the company over US$1 million a year in lost revenue.
The government is moving ahead with the privatization of Air Vanuatu.
The World Bank says a pilot labor mobility project involving 45 Vanuatu workers being employed in New Zealand in 2007 went “really well.” The average amount transmitted home was NZ$3,000 (US$2,326) and the pilot identified areas requiring further coordination and support such as financial organizations to handle “fund transmittals” at reasonable fees.
Vanuatu has proved particularly vulnerable to regional conmen in 2007.
Salendra Sen Sinha, who is in Fiji where he is also facing criminal charges, is wanted for the alleged fraud of US$300,000 in Vanuatu. Vanuatu police have been frustrated over extradition delays. The case has also implicated three Vanuatu MPs.
Convicted Australian conman Peter Foster spent several weeks in a Vanuatu jail after entering the country illegally after leaving Fiji, where he is wanted on fraud charges. Now in jail in Australia, Foster is also wanted in the Federated States of Micronesia. He had some praise for the Vanuatu legal system saying after his sentence, saying, “I’m very relieved; I'm also very impressed with the clarity of thought of the magistrate and the way that the judicial system works so well here in Vanuatu.”
The Acting Registrar of the Vanuatu Supreme Court ensured Vanuatu remained embroiled in the regional scandal over controversial Solomon Islands Attorney General Julian Moti when he stated that the Vanuatu sexual assault case against Moti was still open. Moti’s appointment has inflamed tensions between Australia, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu for over a year.
But at least one case moved towards closure when A N Ghosh was finally deported to India from Germany. Ghosh threw Vanuatu into political turmoil back in 2000 when he allegedly colluded with the then Prime Minister Barak Sope for signing a bank instrument in his name.
Airlines, Shippers Serving Countrys
Air: Air Vanuatu, Air Caledonie, Air New Zealand, Air Pacific, Pacific Blue, Pacific Sun, Solomon Islands, Vanair (domestic). Shippers: Bank Line, Pacific Forum Line, P&O Cruises, Sofrana Unilines, Local Interisland Traders.
Main Government Contact
Office of the Prime Minister
PMB 053, Port Vila, Vanuatu
Ph: (678) 22-413
Fax: (678) 22-863
Web:
www.vanuatugovernment.gov.vu
Vanuatu Tourism
Web:
www.vanuatu.discoverparadise.org
Sources and Vanuatu on the Web
Vanuatu Online
www.vanuatu.net.vu/
SPC
www.spc.int/prism/country/vu/stats/
Reserve Bank of Vanuatu
www.rbv.gov.vu
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
www.dfat.gov.au/geo/fs/vanu.pdf
CIA World factbook
www.cia.gov/
Map courtesy UH Press, The Pacific Islands; an Encyclopedia
Click map for larger image
