PINA

A recent report by Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) focusing on the impacts of COVID-19 on Tonga’s private sector has found that less than a quarter of businesses in Tonga were fully operational over 2020, compared to 36% across the Pacific Islands. The Pacific Business Monitor Tonga Focus 2020 Report aggregates results from respondents in Tonga across all the PTI Pacific...

The Cook Islands National Superannuation Fund has adjusted the pension withdrawal limit, which loosens the criteria for those who want to exit the scheme. Under the new rules the withdrawal limit is changing from $15,000(US$10,585 to $45,000(US$31,757) for all new pensioners. This means those who upon retirement have less than $45,000 in contributions will be able to withdraw their balance. The change...

Japan has announced it will release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea, a decision that has angered neighbouring countries, including China, and local fishers. Official confirmation of the move, which came more than a decade after the nuclear disaster, will deal a further blow to the fishing industry in...

With over 1,500 essential workers already vaccinated in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Health Minister Jelta Wong is optimistic that the numbers will continue to increase as the demand around the country grows. The first batch of 132,000 vaccines arrived Tuesday in Port Moresby through the COVAX facility in preparation for the Governments National Vaccine Roll-Out. This vaccine will be...

Fiji is leading the world in COVID-19 containment. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said all the measures put in to protect Fiji against the pandemic has worked. Speaking to Fiji National University students, Bainimarama highlighted that Fiji is about to mark a year since the last case of community transmission. “I am not speaking to you through a mask and we are not...

By Samisoni Pareti Mountain tribes in Fiji are thwarting plans by the country’s power monopoly to build a multi-million hydro power plant. The people of Nubu and Cawanisa say Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) only has itself to blame for the derailment of its hydro project because of the pitiful rental it has paid them in the past. On hold is the Qaliwana...

Six legal minds have successfully won their bid to become decision makers and legislators following Friday’s Samoa General Election, according to OEC preliminary results. From the eight lawyers who contested the election, only two were unable to win enough votes, including the caretaker Minister of Justice, Fa’aolesa Katopau Ainu’u. The other is Leota Suatele Manusegi who is a Tautua Samoa candidate...

-The Royal Navy’s carrier strike group would be welcome to visit Palau when it deploys to the Indo-Pacific this year, as the island attempts to counter growing Chinese intimidation. In an interview with the Telegraph, Palau's President Surangel Whipps said his country was facing a pressing need to shore up allies, as Beijing steps up its efforts to lay claim...

The COVID-19 pandemic is “a long way from over” but there are many reasons to be optimistic and it’s possible the pandemic can be brought under control “within months”, the head of the UN health agency said on Monday. Although January and February saw six consecutive weeks of plummeting COVID-19 cases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) chief said that had...

Samoa’s cliff-hanger general election is a victory for under-represented women in Pacific island politics, regardless of the final outcome, FAST leader Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said. Her Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party is on the cusp of a major upset after Friday’s vote, leaving Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi fighting for his political life after 22...