Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Source: Pacific Trade and Invest
The 14th Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Pacific Business Monitor reports that road to recovery expectations are receding as we head further into 2021.
A year ago, 42% (143 respondents) expected to return to pre-COVID revenue levels by 2021, reflecting at the time improved confidence in a more positive outlook. This is in comparison to the most recent survey, where 12 % (106 respondents), remain confident of returning to pre-COVID revenue in 2021 and 50% expecting it in 2022 or later.
PTI New Zealand Trade Commissioner Glynis Miller said, “the roll out of vaccination programmes coupled with government economic recovery efforts across the Blue Pacific is resetting business expectations on when a full recovery can be expected. In the same report however we see that 69% of businesses are confident they will survive the COVID-19 crisis, which is up from 58% last wave, and this is a positive trend to note.”
The Pacific Business Monitor, which tracks the impact of COVID-19 has highlighted several trends across the 16 Pacific Island Countries such as the need for diversification of business – notably away heavy reliance on tourism dollars, improving and implementing e-commerce capabilities, and upskilling staff.
As an agency of the Pacific Islands Forum, the role of the PTI Network is to improve the livelihoods of Pacific Peoples by supporting and growing businesses across the Blue Pacific.
“Across our global network, which spans from Europe down through China, Australia and New Zealand we have been working to deliver programmes and support which directly address points raised in our reports,” said Miller.
“Our New Zealand office has recently delivered an investment webinar for the agriculture sector. The sessions covered topics ranging from global trends for funding agricultural projects from public and private funds to what technical assistance might needed to accelerate the development of investable agricultural opportunities.
“Agri-business is another key industry within the Pacific, and we want to assist this sector to make their agri-business opportunities desirable to investors. We will be holding a follow up session that will act as an incubator to identify agricultural opportunities that can become a part of a pipeline of projects. This pipeline will be used to attract funds into Pacific Island Countries,” said Glynis.
PTI has been collecting information through the Pacific Business Monitor report since April 2020. They recently released their 2020 Overall reports, including nine country focussed reports. For more information visit www.pacifictradeinvest.co.nz.
ABOUT PACIFIC TRADE INVEST NZ
- An agency of Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and is funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)
- Part of the Pacific Trade Invest Network of offices operating in Sydney, Australia; Beijing, People’s Republic of China; Geneva, Switzerland and Auckland, New Zealand
- Supports the 16 Blue Pacific Forum countries: the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
