Samoa hosts Small Islands Conference

Islands Business reports that Samoa has been awarded the right to hold the major Third International Conferenceon Small Island Developing States in August or September 2014. Staged only once a decade, the event is expected to attract 3000 delegates. The choice of venue is appropriate, as Samoa expects to graduate from the category of Least Developed Countries on 1 January that year. Other Pacific members of the grouping are Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Timor-Leste.

Former Australian Pacific Minister interviewed

Radio Australia interviews Australia’s former Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, Richard Marles, on the sidelines of the event that was his brainchild – the annual Alfred Deakin Research Institute Papua New Guinea symposium, held in Geelong, Victoria.

Weighty publicity for Samoa Air

As we anticipated two weeks ago, Samoa Air’s radical step of charging passengers by weight has hit the international headlines. Putting the ethics to one side, it’s a brilliant PR strategy.

Fiji’s constitution analysed

The fuss over Fiji’s new Constitution has caught the eye of none other than The Economist. Under the heading ‘Opportunity Blown’ it suggests that

’campaigning for election will also empower the very voices [Commodore Bainimarama] has sought repeatedly to silence.’