Business Briefs
Business Briefs
| Region
Hawaiian Airlines has added a "no-show penalty" on tickets for all its markets, except for Hawaiian Miles Award tickets. The highest no-show penalty of $350 applies to the carrier's international and South Pacific flights, which is $100 more than the penalty on flights between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. -- FS - ADVERTISEMENT - American Samoa Norwegian Cruise Line has hired its first 27 crew members from American Samoa. Ten left the territory in mid-March after undergoing physical checks and clearances. The recruits were initially being trained in Baltimore, Maryland before heading to Hawaii where they will board NCL cruise ships that travel the Hawaiian Islands. The 27 have signed one-year contracts for housekeeping, janitorial, cooking, waitress and reception work. NCL says it wants to hire up to 100 employees from American Samoa and the first recruits have been told by government officials that their work performance and behavior will determine whether the company follows through with its intention. -- FS Samoa Samoa's leading mobile phone provider Telecom Samoa announced in March that it is investing $SAT15 (US$5.28) million to build a GSM cell network. Chairman of the Telecom Samoa board Anthony Briscoe says the company's plans stem from a recent survey. Telecom Samoa also announced the appointment of Ericsson as the company to build the GSM network. -- PR
CNMI Visitor arrivals for February saw a 19.7 percent decline compared to the same period last year, statistics from the Marianas Visitors Authority (MVA) show. This is the third month in a row that tourism figures showed a double-digit decline when compared to the same month a year previous. MVA authorities blamed the decline in the departure of Japan Airlines since last October and also in fewer military ship arrivals. The CNMI's primary travel market, Japan, registered a 21 percent decline compared to the same period in 2005. Korea posted an eight percent decline while China registered a flat growth. Overall, 37,228 visitors arrived in the CNMI in February, compared to 46,356 in the same period in 2005. -- FSR Two companies announced plans in March to spend more than $320 million on the island of Tinian building hotels and casinos including golf courses. Bridge Investment Group proposes to spend $150 million to build a hotel and casino, water-park and a golf course. Marianas Resort Development Company wants to construct a 300-room hotel casino that will include an 18-hole golf course with shopping arcade and convention facility that will accommodate 600 people. The plans have been finalized and both companies are processing their permits with various government agencies before construction begins later this year. -- FSR Guam Wireless telephone providers Guam Cellular and Paging-doing business as as GuamCell Communications, SaipanCell Communications and HafaTel announced that they had agreed to be purchased by Japanese telecommunications giant NTT DoCoMo. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval. Mark Chamberlin, GuamCell president, has been selected to be chief executive officer of the new combined company, the creation of which is to be "seamless to both customers and vendors." The purchase price for the two companies is reported to be $71.8 million. Details will be forthcoming as the merger moves through the regulatory process, though it is the company's intention to improve the HafaTel GSM network, Chamberlin said. GuamCell and NTT DoCoMo utilize CDMA platforms. The acquisition was done, in part, based on NTT DoCoMo's interest in serving Japanese tourists in both the Guam and CNMI markets. In January GTA, Guam's primary telephone carrier, rolled out a new GSM network. -- FW Three large construction contracts were recently awarded by the U.S. Navy to companies located in Guam. On February 16, Dick Pacific Construction Co. Ltd. was awarded an $11.6 million contract to build 12 munitions storage igloos at Andersen Air Force Base. On March 3, Sun Woo Corp. was awarded a contract to improve and repair 99 housing units near the Naval Computer and Telecommunication Station in South Finegayan, Dededo. The contract is worth $21 million. Black Construction Corp. was awarded a $49.9 million contract to dredge around, extend and improve two wharves on Naval Base Guam. -- FW
A grand opening ceremony was held for the Fiesta Resort Guam in the heart of Guam's Tumon tourist district on March 11. The building is the former Guam Dai Ichi Hotel, which was purchased by the Saipan-based Tan Holdings Corp. in May 2002. It was closed in April 2004 for a $15 million renovation and has reopened under its new name. Tan Holdings earlier acquired and renovated the former Dai-Ichi Hotel on Saipan. It was renamed the Fiesta Resort Saipan. -- FW The Bank of Guam announced that it has committed to sponsor the Pacific Islands Small Business Development Center's Women in Business Program and the Pacific Islands Microcredit Institute. The programs are designed to help individuals who may not otherwise qualify for capital to start small businesses. Interested individuals should contact any one of the Small Business Development Center locations in Guam, Chuuk, Palau, Majuro, Yap and Kosrae. -- FW Cook Islands
Finance Minister Dr. Terepai Maoate (left) and Finance Secretary Kevin Carr have finally settled all debts left from the failed "Sheraton Hotel" project, now dubbed the white elephant of the Cook Islands. Funds for the failed project were lent from the Italian government-owned company SACE. Dr. Maoate announced, after holding talks in Rome, that the US$29 million debt left from the failed project has been settled for US$8 million. -- UKM The Cook Islands Development Investment Board is finally compiling its new Investment Code after last October's review. The review looked at many issues including a compulsory police check for all foreign investors, protection of certain business for Cook Islanders only and close monitoring of the sale of businesses to overseas buyers. -- UKM Fiji The derelict Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva, once dubbed the Grand Old Lady, is to rise again-with a new name. The hotel's owner, Grand Pacific Hotel Ltd-a joint venture between two Fiji government institutions-announced in March that the design concept for the redevelopment of the hotel was to be made in April as Pacific was going to press. The hotel will be known as Crowne Plaza Grand Pacific Suva. -- RM The Fiji Visitors Bureau will launch a new global brand to lure visitors to Fiji in June. The bureau's director of marketing Josefa Tuamoto said the "Fiji Me" branding built on Fiji's reputation as a leading destination for relaxation. The bureau, before settling for the Fiji Me brand, researched in the U.S., New Zealand and Australia-Fiji's main sources of tourists-and found the country was perceived as a relaxing holiday destination with the friendliest of people. -- RM Air Pacific lost F$1 (US$0.56) million in repairs and recovery after a bird damaged one of its aircraft's engines. Flight FJ931, a Boeing 767-300ER, with 130 passengers and crew on board had just taken off from Nadi for Melbourne on March 1 when the incident happened. The engine performance deteriorated and the captain turned back. Repairs were carried out before the aircraft was flown to Sydney for an engine replacement. -- RM Papua New Guinea The Department of Petroleum and Energy has begun seismic surveys in the southern waters of Papua New Guinea for possible oil and gas reserves. In a collaborative project funded and implemented by the world's largest geotechnical survey company Fugro Limited, data will be collected from waters in the Gulf, Central, Milne Bay and possibly Oro provinces. Fugro will use Norway-based offshore survey ship Polar Duke to conduct the survey that will run until July. -- AR Fiji has agreed to import Papua New Guinea-made Ox & Palm corned beef bringing to an end a yearlong trade war. PNG Trade and Industry Minister Paul Tiensten and Fiji Foreign Affairs and External Trade Minister Kaliopate Tavola reconciled during a special Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) foreign ministers' meeting in Port Vila. Legislation to categorize PNG a mad cow (BSE)-free nation with Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Vanuatu is currently before the Fiji attorney general for approval, which would open the way for the product's export. -- AR Papua New Guinea company Oil Search Limited has announced a record net profit of US$200.2 million for 2005. This represents the fourth consecutive year of strong annual profit growth. Shareholders, including the PNG government, will be paid a dividend of US.03 per share. The company attributes its strong performance to "sound operational performance" and high global oil prices. -- SM Solomon Islands Guadalcanal Plains Palm Oil Limited (GPPOL) says it is determined to move on despite a fire that took down its newly built office building in February. The Malaysian-owned GPPOL is the first company to have shown confidence in investing in Solomon Islands after the ethnic tension. It took over a vast oil palm plantation in the Guadalcanal plains, formerly owned by the Commonwealth Development Cooperation and the Solomon Islands government. Harry Brock, the GPPOL project manager, says staff was to have moved into the new SBD $1 million dollar building at Tetere in just a matter of days when fire struck. "It's a huge setback and it makes you stop and think how stable are we here," he says. But Brock says GPPOL will move on, build a new office in the same place and in four months time, it will be work as usual. He hopes to be shipping out oil by June or July as well as paying out royalties to landowning groups. Two teenagers from the area have been charged with arson over the incident. -- AO Japanese mining giant Sumitomo Metal Mining is seeking the go ahead from landowners of Isabel province to mine rich nickel deposits on San Jorge and Takata Islands. The islands are in the Gao and Bugotu areas of Isabel. Nickel deposits are believed to extend far into the neighboring Hograno district. However, there is disagreement between mining proponents and some landowners. Hograno landowner Duddley Longamei has called for cooperation among all the landowning groups. He says he sees nothing for Isabel people in the agreement. A Canadian-based company, Pacrim Resources Limited, was the first to have acquired a prospecting license, but government refused a renewal last year for breaches of license and legal conditions. A company from the People's Republic of China, Sino Steel, is said to have also expressed an interest. -- AO A Malaysian developer has announced its intention to build a new resort and casino hotel in Honiara. Chairman of Honiara Resort Ltd., P.H. Chen says the US$140 million investment will provide over 500 jobs, and construction will begin as soon as council approval is given. Honiara Casino Ltd. is expected to move from its current Mendana Avenue premises to become an anchor tenant of the hotel. -- SM Marshall Islands
The Tobolar Copra Processing Plant in Majuro is operating at less than 40 percent of its capacity because of a shortage of copra, with the main problem being poor shipping and the lack of Tobolar's involvement in transporting copra to market, says a recently issued review of the copra industry prepared for the Asian Development Bank and the Marshalls government. "There is presently little confidence in the conduct of the copra trade and in the capability and capacity of shipping services," the report says. The report concludes that sustainable improvements in the copra industry are unlikely unless the "complicated and cumbersome" trading channel-which doesn't currently involve Tobolar or copra makers-is sorted out. Copra milled by Tobolar declined slightly in 2005 compared to 2004, from 4,864.8 tons to 4,693.3 tons. -- GJ Palau Laverne Merep has introduced the first Palauan noni capsule. Noni is known throughout the Pacific for its medicinal benefits and has been cultivated and used locally for generations. Benefits of using noni include the prevention and treatment of a wide range of illnesses. Demand for noni in the Taiwanese market is extremely high. Many orders for the capsules have already been placed with the anticipation of more to come. -- BP
French Polynesia French Polynesia's government has put at least a temporary stop to two Tahiti shopping mall projects on the grounds that they are too big. A government commission has asked the developers, Carrerfour-Champion and Thierry Barbion, to come back with something smaller. The developers say the new malls will provide much needed employment. The French Polynesia Government Council of Ministers is expected to make a final decision on the proposals in May. -- SM Kiribati Two new Internet service providers (ISP) have been approved by the Telecomunications Authority Kiribati (TAK). They are TV Kiribati and TMS Tech. TAK said there are enough customers to have three Internet providers in Kiribati. TSKL is the already established operator. -- BB A survey carried out by Asia Pacific Aviation found that Air Kiribati is employing too many staff and cuts would help the airline survive. Air Kiribati's Board has asked management to implement the survey recommendations. But Air Kiribati manager Baraniko Baaro says a consultation with all staff will be arranged and the situation explained before any action is taken. -- BB Contributors: Fili Sagapolutele, Peter Rees, Frank S. Rosario, Frank Whitman, Ulamila Kurai-Marrie, Ricardo Morris, Alex Rheeney, Samantha Magick, Alison Ofotalau, Giff Johnson, Blaire Phillips, and Batiri Bataua.
|
