Business Briefs
Business Briefs
Palau
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Former Palau President Kuniwo Nakamura has been appointed by Century Insurance Co., Ltd. (CIC) to serve as the company’s general agent in Palau. In addition to the new Palau office, CIC does business in Saipan, Pohnpei and Chuuk, and plans to expand to the Marshall Islands and Guam. “We are very pleased to welcome former President Nakamura to our business family of agents and brokers,” said CIC President David M. Sablan, who is based in Saipan. “In addition to expanding our commitment to serve the region, we have launched an improvement program designed to meet global standards of service.” CIC is an affiliate of Tan Holdings Corporation, a diverse group of companies, involved in garment manufacturing, logistics services, ground handling, retail, amusement, movie theatres, real estate, tourism, banking and finance, fishing, and aviation.
Samoa
The US$1.9 million Magik 2 Cinema officially opened in Apia in early September giving Samoans the best in international entertainment standards. Besides the usual cinema amenities, the Magik 2 also offers video games and a wide range of sweets. During the country’s Teuila Festival, the cinema was opened 24-hours.
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Big Samoan handicraft items, such as statues and weapons from the olden days, are commodities assured to capture big profits in Europe, according to Claus Wessing, Samoa’s Honorary Counsel in Germany. In a recent visit to Samoa, Wessing made a monetary donation and told the Tagiilima Handicraft association that attention should be focused on big Samoan handicraft to assure exportation success in Europe. He said smaller items such as necklaces and bracelets face stiff competition from countries like the Philippines, where they are produced cheaply and the airfreight costs are less expensive.
American Samoa
Faced with the alarming trend of increasing business failures among indigenous Samoan business owners, the Samoa Business and Cultural Inc., (SBCI) opened recently to provide legal and business advice and ways to obtain capital investment for local entrepreneurs. SBCI executive director Tony Langkilde said the non-profit group, funded by U.S. aid, was formed by local businessmen in response to this alarming trend. He said this trend is popularly attributed to the influx of foreign businesses.
New Caledonia
France may have dug in its heels in New Caledonia, but its national flag carrier is giving up on the territory. Air France is making preparations to leave New Caledonia permanently. Following negotiations between Air France and the territory’s Air Caledonia International (AirCalin) in 2000, the locally-based airline will service the Nouméa-Japan run, still of much importance to New Caledonia’s visitor industry, especially since the fall in numbers from Australia and New Zealand. Air France will continue to operate the Japan-France sector. To aid the transfer, AirCalin will receive from the French government a 75 per cent tax exemption on the purchase of two Airbus A-330s.
Pacific
As evidence of the increasing popularity of island weddings or honeymoons among tourists to the Pacific, the Fiji-based South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) has received US$40,000 from Taiwan to promote specialized wedding and honeymoon travel to the Pacific Islands. Travel for weddings or honeymoons is said to constitute the second largest niche market in Pacific Island tourism (the first is diving). Japanese wedding couples still make up a significant element in the visitor market for both New Caledonia and Fiji, despite recent downturns in the Japanese national economy
Some $10,000 of the Taiwanese contribution will go toward SPTO’s production of a South Pacific wedding and honeymoon brochure. The remainder ($30,000) will contribute to the SPTO’s organization of the Small and Medium Enterprises Travel Trade Fair, scheduled for September 2002.
BB Shipping, a Vanuatu-registered shipping company, has launched an Auckland-Tonga-Niue-Auckland service that is competing with the New Zealand-based Reef Shipping Company, which operates the MV Southern Express from Auckland to Niue via Rarotonga and Aitutaki. BB Shipping bought the MV Ngamaru 111 that was owned by the now defunct Cook Islands National Shipping Line.
Photo: Century Insurance Company
