Opening New Doors

If Professor James McMaster had his way, people doing business in the Pacific Islands would no longer have to physically stand in line to clear goods through customs. Businesspeople would no longer have to fill out a myriad of forms for different departments and authorities. No longer would business be confined to 9 to 5.

"It's no good sitting back and saying we're small, we don't need e-government. Otherwise you'll miss out," says McMaster, from the University of the South Pacific, who is the author of a report on the Establishment of a Pacific Islands Virtual Trade Gateway for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

The report acknowledges that more countries are moving to electronic procedures relating to customs, ports, quarantine, immigration and health authorities. These include important trading partners for Pacific Island nations such as the U.S., the European Union, South Korea, and Hong Kong. In Australia, electronic documentation for customs purposes will be required this year.

Some Pacific Island countries are moving slowly in this direction. In Fiji, all customs brokers now send electronic documents to the one customs authority and may receive green light approvals within five minutes. However processes at Fiji quarantine, health and immigration are not as well developed. At the other end of the spectrum, things are still done by paper forms and through manual processing in Kiribati and Tuvalu.

McMaster's report says a Pacific Islands Virtual Trade Gateway would improve the competitiveness of Pacific Island countries through the application of Internet technology to international trade transactions. It says the Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) and Pacific Islands Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) demonstrate that "Pacific leaders are now clearly cognizant of the need for further regional economic integration. The virtual trade gateway could serve as a valuable tool for achieving their goals."

But what precisely would be involved? In McMaster's vision, the Internet would not only promote trade in the region, but also allow traders to submit documents for approval and pay government and other charges online. It would involve establishing a common platform that would link all the private and public sector organizations in Forum Island countries involved in trade transactions, such as customs, shipping companies, insurance companies, airlines and trading firms.

The McMaster report advocates a phased roll-out. It says a pilot program involving Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and costing about A$300,000 should begin this year. And it argues that the program should be developed and operated by a well-established and experienced provider of electronic trade facilitation and documentation services in the region.

McMaster says it is important that Pacific Island governments introduce competition into the telecommunications sector where possible, and lead by example.

"It is important for governments to take a more proactive role …and to build the capacity of their own trade-related authorities in this area, as has been done in the island economy of Jamaica," the report says.

"If you look at resources allocated to e-government, it's almost nothing," says McMaster. "Most governments see the private sector as the engine of growth, but the governments need to make it a bit more friendly for that private sector."

He says the private sector is already seeing the power of the Internet as a very cost effective marketing tool.

"JICA (through Japan) funded a study of 998 backpacker resorts in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. A lot of them indicated that once they got a well organized Website, they had substantive increases in their occupancy rates."

ESCAP is now formally sending the report to government ministries around the Pacific Islands. A series of meetings will follow. McMaster says further consultation is also necessary with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, as he believes the Forum should be the implementing body.

www.pitic.org.au The Pacific Islands Trade and Investment Commission (Australia) is cleverly divided into two sections that meet the needs of Australian visitors and Pacific Island visitors. www.pic.or.jp The site of the Pacific Islands Center in Tokyo, Japan has some excellent features such as profiles of Japanese domestic markets for commodities that are produced in Pacific Island countries such as coffee, mineral water, fruit juice, tuna and beef. Contact details also strengthen the site. One weakness is the difficulty and delays users sometimes experience in getting into the English language version of the site. www.pifto.org.cn The site of the Pacific Islands Forum Trade office in China is a Chinese language site. An English language version would enable Pacific Island exporters to find markets in China. www.spto.org.fj The South Pacific Tourism Organization's site is well designed and is an effective marketing tool to promote tourism services for the whole region. "This is one organization that has changed its site and is now doing it right," McMaster says.