Briefs
Business
Northern Mariana Islands
In a blow to a growing tourist market, Korean Airlines discontinued its service between Seoul and Saipan effective Mar. 3. The airline had been flying Airbus 330 aircraft, seating 296 passengers, on the route at least four days a week. The airline attributed the decision to concerns about the crisis with North Korea and a 10 percent reduction in global traffic. During 2002, more than 77,000 Koreans visited the Northern Marianas according to the Marianas Visitors Authority. Asiana Airlines will continue to fly the route.
—FW
The Bank of Saipan may reopen its doors on April 1, following the Feb. 13 court approval of the bank’s rehabilitation plan. Depositors will be able to withdraw 10 percent per month from checking accounts and five percent from savings accounts.
—FW
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Faced with U.S. federal and local government objections, Tan Holdings and Missouri Holdings withdrew from Pacific Telecom Inc. Citadel Holdings Corp. of the Philippines maintained its 70 percent interest in Pacific Telecom, the consortium that had successfully bid to purchase Verizon, the CNMI’s telephone service provider. Local company EFC Engineers and Architects, owned by Ephraim F. Camacho, took over the remaining 30 percent interest in Pacific Telecom and the consortium is pursuing the Verizon purchase.
—FW
Auditors for the Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production standards announced that Luen Thai Apparel group’s factories in Saipan, affiliates of Tan Holdings Corp., earned social compliance certification based on WRAP’s principles, said a release from Tan Holdings. WRAP addresses labor practices, factory conditions, environmental and customs compliance. It is the first time the certification has been awarded to Saipan Garment factory. WRAP is endorsed by the American Apparel & Footwear Association, the largest sewn products trade association in the U.S.
—FW
The number of visitors to the CNMI during January was the highest for any month in six years. The 53,625 visitor count is a 38 percent increase over the arrival numbers from January 2002. The increase is attributed to the diversion of Guam-bound tourists in the wake of Supertyphoon Pongsona.
—FW
Micronesia
Continental Micronesia’s on-time performance in 2002 was better than all U.S. major carriers, the Guam-based airline announced in late February. The carrier said 91 percent of its flights arrived within 14 minutes of scheduled arrival time. United Airlines was the next best with 84 percent, followed by American Airlines at 83.8 percent. Continental Micronesia’s baggage handling was rated a near perfect 99.83 percent.
—GJ
Yap
Timothy Scheidt, a Micronesian water specialist, has accepted a three-year contract to manage the water utility in Yap. Scheidt has been the “circuit rider” for the U.S. Department of Interior-funded and American Samoa Power Authority-managed water utilities training program for the last year and a half. He will continue to travel throughout Micronesia for the ASPA water and wastewater utility improvement program over the course of 2003 while he assumes the helm at the Yap water operation. “I look forward to the challenge of continuing to improve the water utilities, as well as performing the trainings necessary to bring about the sustainability and reliability of water delivery and its proper treatment within the region,” he says.
—OW
American Samoa
The University of Hawaii Pacific Business Center won a contract from the government of American Samoa to produce an eco-tourism plan for the territory. The aim is to promote village-based tourist destinations, promote tourist sites, bed and breakfast type operations, and other small-scale visitor businesses. The Pacific Business Center recently won national recognition in the United States for a development plan prepared for Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands that involved a high-degree of community participation in the design.
—FS
Palau
With the assistance of the Australian firm, Atlas Pacific Ltd., Palau may be giving pearl farming a second try. Atlas, with branches in Australia and Indonesia, will be bringing oyster stock to Palau and setting up a test site. If successful, the project will be expanded—with Atlas supplying the money and expertise and Palau providing the site, possibly in Ngarchelong State on Babeldaob. A previous attempt to farm pearls was unsuccessful in Palau because the pearls produced were below world standards.
—NC
In July the waters of Palau will become a wine-aging cellar for the renowned wines of Katsunuma City in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The wines will be bottled in Katsunuma City and shipped to Palau for the underwater aging process. President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr. and Katsunuma City Mayor Takehito Saegusa met together in Palau to sign an agreement launching the business partnership.
—NC
French Polynesia
A ceremony to celebrate the inaugural voyage of the new cargo/passenger vessel Aranui III was held in the port of Papeete in late February. The ship, whose forebears, Aranui I and II, acquired near legendary status in French Polynesia over the last four decades, attracting international tourists as well as local traffic. Constructed in Romania, at a cost of 25 million euros, the third of its line is owned by the Polynesian Maritime Transport Company, run by Tahitian-Chinese families Wong and Chan.
—ND
Fiji
The government’s budget for 2003 includes a grant of F$500,000 to assist the development and promotion of eco-tourism. A paper on eco-tourism, submitted by the Minister for Tourism, Pita Nacuva, said that following details of the 2002 Annual Report on the subject, his ministry was evaluating significant issues such as the marketing of the industry. The great majority of eco-tourists visited the Yasawa and the Mamanuca Island groups in Western Fiji.
—ND
Papua New Guinea
From modest beginnings, the Seaview Resort in Takubar, near Kokopo in PNG’s East New Britain Province, has become a success, attracting both regional and international guests. The resort is run by Annemarie Arns, from Manam Island, who based the idea on her experiences of small resorts in Indonesia and Thailand. Annemarie’s guests have been mainly business people from within PNG, visiting the province on short trips. But other guests have come from the U.S., Germany and Australia. Apart from providing a well-appointed and relaxing atmosphere, she runs a fairly tight enterprise: if you want to stay at the resort, you are not permitted to smoke in the rooms or chew betel-nut. And as for alcohol ... forget it.
—ND
SHELL Ltd. celebrated 75 years of operation in PNG on March 1. SHELL began fuel operations as far back as 1928 in what was then an Australian territory and has weathered many tough times to become one of the country’s major distributors of fuel and oil. SHELL executive Charles Amini said the company took pride in its record of endurance through difficult periods.
—ND
Guam
According to a Honolulu Advertiser business page article, the Bank of Hawaii’s 2002 annual report took special note of debt problems in Guam. In fact, the Guam economy “has become the chief financial worry for Bank of Hawaii officials.” Typhoon Pongsona, post-Sept. 11 visitor arrival drops and a local government facing deep financial crises has led the bank to be concerned about defaults in its $430 million in local loans.
—SW
Kiribati
A Mar. 3 PINA news story posted on the Pacific Magazine Web site reported that Pacific Flight Service, was about to start air cargo service on a Kiribati-American Samoa-Tonga and return run using the 727-200 aircraft. But Francis Ngalu, the I-Kiribati Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Communication and Transport, says that, “As the Aviation Licensing Authority in the Republic of Kiribati, we are unaware of having issued Pacific Flight Service a license to operate a scheduled freight run into Kiritimati Island, nor have we sighted an application from Pacific Flight Service to operate said service.” Bill Paupe, the Kiribati consul in Honolulu, clarified that, “A one-time permit was issued for Pacific Flight Service to bring cargo to Kiritimati (Christmas Island), but I know that Tiger Cargo Lines plans to submit an application for the service.”
—SW
Contributors: Frank Whitman, Giff Johnson, Olivier Wortel, Fili Sagapolutele, Nancy Chism, Norman Douglas, Scott Whitney.
