Pacific Magazine > Magazine > June 1, 2001

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

By Eric Say, Aldwin R. Fajardo, Noa Welly, Fili Sagapolutele

Guam
Shell Guam has undertaken an aggressive building program by investing nearly $6 million in a new East Agana service station. “This project is the first phase of a longer term program to develop a one-stop auto service and retail facility here in East Agana,” says Andrew Harford, President of Shell-Guam, Inc. Groundbreaking was held April 5 and the new service station is expected to be completed in July. Harford said improvements in tourism and the renewed interest in Guam by the military are indicators of a brighter economic future leading to Shell’s investment.

American Samoa
The $7 million, 104 room Tradewinds West Hotel broke ground in mid-April. The three-story, plantation-style hotel is considered the largest and costliest project undertaken by a locally-owned company, Ottoville Investment One Corp. The project moved forward after five years of planning, despite opposition from nearby residents who fear it will cause traffic problems. Currently, there is only the government-owned Rainmaker Hotel in American Samoa. The new hotel, which will include conference rooms and a pool, is slated to open in September 2002.

To help develop American Samoa's economy through the exploitation of natural resources, the U.S. Administration for Native Americans has awarded $266,000 to two organizations. More than $76,000 will go to the non-profit Aquaculture Cooperative of American Samoa to help individual members set up fish and oyster farms. The second group to receive the funding is yet to be identified but Rep. Faleomavaega Eni said the funding is to encourage community and individual efforts that promote self-sufficiency.

The $8 million sale of the Amerika Samoa Bank (ASB) to the Australia New Zealand Banking Group was completed on March 30th when ASB shareholders cast their final vote. The new bank will operate under the name ANZ-Amerika Samoa Bank. Former ASB president Brent Judy said ANZ will reach into American Samoa with products and services that ASB could not provide. ANZ-Amerika Samoa Bank is also expanding its electronic-banking service by installing more ATMs and introducing debit cards.

Samoa

Polynesian Airlines is expecting its first loss in six years.

Faced with rising increasing fuel prices, increased competitiveness and declining traffic due to wider economic uncertainty in major markets, Samoa's national carrier, Polynesian Airlines is anticipating a financial loss for the current fiscal year. Polynesian chief executive officer Richard Gates said in early May the loss comes after six consecutive years of operating profitably since the company was reconstructed in 1995. This includes the US$700,000 profit for the year ended June 2000. Many airlines are “forecasting significant losses in the current year and it is disturbing to note that two well known airlines in our region have already ceased operations as a consequence," Gates said. Polynesian's has seen a 53.4 percent hike in the price of jet fuel this year compared with 2000. This could not be passed on to the market in higher fares because of competition with other airlines, he said. Kosrae

Kosrae Village Resort hosted the Professional Association of Diving Instructors Forum on April 30 in the resort on the small peninsula on the eastern side of Kosrae. This is an annual meeting organized by PADI to update their professional members and also brought in dive masters. This may be the only PADI Forum held in Micronesia this year.

Northern Mariana Islands
Car sales in the Northern Marianas dropped more than 10 percent in March, after posting significant growth in the first two months of the year. The Commonwealth Automotive Dealers Association reported a 10.59 percent fall in auto sales compared to sales figures tallied during the same month last year. Nearly half of the vehicles wheeled out from the showrooms of local auto dealers were sports utility vehicles or trucks.

A huge Florida-based leisure company is looking at making a $10-$12 million investment on Saipan, a development that would boost CNMI's struggling economy. Executives of SunCruz Casinos were on island in March meeting with key government officials about plans to establish a floating casino off Saipan. A 150-foot vessel, which will be moored near the Saipan International Seaport, is to house a fine-dining restaurant, live entertainment center and a casino of 165 gaming machines and 25 tables. SunCruz Casinos operates floating gaming facilities in the United States and in Asia and the Caribbean.