Business Briefs
Business Briefs
American Samoa
At left, Dr. Tusi Avegalio, director of the University of Hawaii’s Pacific Business Center Program, looks on as Chairman of the Development Bank of American Samoa, High Chief Liufau receives the National Association of Magagement and Technical Assistance Centers’ Project of the Year Award from Dr. Sid Johnson at ceremonies in New York.
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—SW
Palau
Bank of Hawaii celebrated the grand opening of its new building with a cocktail reception on Oct. 29. The new Palau branch of the Bank of Hawaii was built as a joint effort between the estate of Isidoro Rudimch and Bank of Hawaii at a cost of $2 million. The new branch opened on Aug. 25 and employs 24 staff. In attendance were over 200 people including chairman and CEO of Bank of Hawaii, Michael E. O'Neill and executives including Alton Kuioka, vice chairman, Ron Leach, Pacific Island Division manager, and Stephen Brock, Palau country manager. Palau President Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr., Vice President Sandra Pierantozzi and traditional High Chief Ibedul and High Chief Reklai also joined the festivities.
—NC
Guam
Warehouse discount retailer PriceSmart announced that it will close its Guam store at the end of 2003. Guam’s poor economy and local consumer resistance to store membership fees were cited as reasons for the closure. A similar store, Price Costco, closed its doors in the same location in 1998 after operating for three years. The Guam PriceSmart opened in March 2002.
—FW
Global Food Services of Guam will begin operating a $15 million subcontract under Raytheon Technical Services Guam, Inc., the Navy’s Base Operations Support contractor in Guam. The subcontract includes food services for several restaurants, clubs and snack bar operations as well as management of a theater, bowling alleys, the Sumay Cove Marina, the Admiral Nimitz Golf Course, various bachelors’ quarters and the galley at the Naval Hospital. The move is seen as big step forward for Guam businesses that have been anxious to increase their participation in the base contract since Raytheon began the operation in January 2000.
—FW
CNMI
Joeten Enterprises, one of the largest companies in the CNMI, opened its Big Bargain store in Chalan Piao, Saipan in early October. The 6,500 square foot store joins the rest of the Joeten Supermarkets in Susupe, Dandan and Garapan villages. “When you come to Big Bargain, you will always find the unexpected, things that you just can’t live without, especially since you can have it for such a low price. And there it is, right on the shelf,” according to a media statement from Joeten Enterprises.
—FR
Fiji
The Fiji Times reports that remittances from Fiji citizens living overseas reached a record US$116 million last year. The Times says remittances from nurses, teachers, rugby players and other professionals will soon surpass sugar as the country’s third highest foreign exchange earner after tourism and the garment industry. The remittance figure has grown by a factor of four since 1994, says Reserve Bank of Fiji governor Savenaca Narube.
—SW & Radio Australia
FSMThe Pacific Islands Development Bank will have $500,000 more to offer in the form of loans to Island businesses across the Micronesian region under an agreement signed recently with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development. The bank was awarded an initial loan of $500,000 at 1 percent interest to be repaid in 30 years, under Rural Development's intermediary relending program. The bank will use the money to relend to island businesses, including those geared toward such activities as fishing and tourism.
—OW
