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Despite its present weaknesses, effective sub-national government at island level is crucialto providing a secure environment for rural business. Steps are being taken now withinternational assistance to rebuild competent provincial government able to maintain closetouch with rural communities. In the background are the constitutional review process andthe possibility that provinces may become states in a federal system.In any case, commercial investors in rural locations will need to maintain good workingrelations with provincial or state government at political and official levels. Timelyconsultation in planning, legal compliance and transparency of dealings are critical.1.6 The ethnic conflict of 1998-2003The ethnic 1 fragmentation of the country acts as a brake on economic development, butpolitically it has also tended to act as a stabilising factor—it has been difficult to build acritical mass of support for radical policies that would be positive or negative fordevelopment. This appearance of multi-ethnic stability suffered a severe blow in 1998-2003 with the eruption of violent conflict and subsequent establishment of gun-rule inHoniara, Guadalcanal and parts of Malaita, and intermittently in Western Province.Known as ‘the tensions’, the upheaval was specifically triggered by extremist elementsfrom Guadalcanal, who tapped into a pool of dislike and mistrust over inward migrationand settlement, particularly from Malaita, and resulting unresolved disputes over land thathad grown up in North Guadalcanal over several decades. Successive governments hadfailed to intervene in any significant way despite being asked many times to do so.The disastrous outcome included an estimated two hundred violent deaths, physical andmental suffering and loss of property for many thousands of people, the collapse of theethnically-split police as a disciplined force, and the overthrow of the elected governmentin an armed coup in June 2000. Though a peace process was initiated by civil society andexternal assistance, and a general election was successfully held in late 2001, it was notuntil June 2003 that the rule of armed gangs and their leaders was ended (next section).The most sustained violence occurred in Guadalcanal between persons from that islandand from Malaita, the latter armed and assisted by Malaitan police. At the same time morewidespread violent incidents and the broad psychological trauma of the conflict had adestabilising effect in other parts of the country. The damage to ethnic ‘neighbourliness’and sense of nationhood has been substantial. Continued population growth and migrationfrom the more populated and resource-poor islands (Malaita, Reef Islands) to those withmore space and possibility of work (Guadalcanal, Isabel and the New Georgia group)mean that the risk of further ethnic violence cannot be ignored.Investors in rural areas need to be aware of this history. They need to actively foster goodrelations with neighbouring communities, maintain an ethnic composition in theirworkforce that minimises friction, and be alert for signs of tension in and around theirinvestment so as to identify its causes and organise ways of alleviating them. There areseveral examples in the tourism sector of investments that have successfully done this, andthey are worth studying. They tend to be on a similar scale to a potential oyster farm.1 In current Solomon Islands’ usage ‘ethnic’ more often refers to island or language group identity than to race.5
1.7 The role of RAMSIIn March 2003, under the terms of a resolution of the Pacific Forum (the BiketawaDeclaration) the SI Prime Minister requested external assistance to deal with armedlawlessness and associated mounting social and economic distress. The RegionalAssistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), organised and largely funded byAustralia, arrived in June 2003. This put an immediate end to the rule of armed gangs andin the following months large quantities of small-arms were surrendered and destroyed.The basic functions of government were progressively restored, public services resumednear-normal levels of activity and the ‘peace process’ accelerated.In 2004-6 a large number of aid-funded activities were put in place with the aim ofrebuilding national capacity to deliver services, build and repair infrastructure andmaintain law and order. Many components of these programs represent long-termcommitments, and linkages to normal bilateral and multilateral aid programs involvingother donors have been and are being developed. A transition from emergencyintervention to deeper-rooted, longer-term building of local capabilities is occurring.RAMSI itself will be reviewed early in 2009. Public confidence in national capacity tomaintain law and order was destroyed in 1998-2003, and remains very low. A contingentof Australian and other regional police remains in support of the SI police, and a militaryrapid-response presence is maintained in the background. It is widely hoped and expectedin SI that the core assistance programs underpinning public security, policing andcontainment of violent crime will be extended for a further ten years, in the context of acoherent plan to develop national capacity to re-assume responsibility for security duringthat period. The current SI government and governments of key RAMSI countries havebeen signalling their potential support for such an agreement.2. Currency and financial stability2.1 Currency and exchange rateThe national currency is the Solomon Islands dollar (SBD). The current official exchangerate is about SBD7.70 to USD1.00, or SBD7.00 to AUD1.00. The exchange rate againstUSD is set by the Central Bank in its daily transactions with the commercial banks, whichthen deal with the public in a range of currencies by applying competitively-set margins tothe CBSI rate.The Central Bank determines the value of the SBD by reference to a basket of currenciesthat reflects the composition of SI’s external trade. Exchange rate policy is agreedbetween CBSI and the government. Broadly the policy aim has been to maintain a level ofexternal reserves equivalent to three months’ imports of goods and services, and protectthe competitiveness of domestic production and rural-based export industries.Faced since the mid-1980s with mounting government budget deficits and erosion ofexternal reserves by resulting import expenditures, the SBD was progressively depreciatedfrom parity with AUD at Independence in 1978 to around SBD7=AUD1 today. Since2004 the external reserves have been boosted by heavy grant-funded inflows associatedwith RAMSI and other aid programmes, creating a surplus on the overall balance of6
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Stimulating investment in pearlfarm
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Appendix IAppendix IIAppendix IIIAp
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various project elements to describ
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PNGSolomon IsPNGCook IsVanuatuFijiF
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Figure 2. Typical coastal habitat f
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to work alongside WorldFish science
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least two weeks before the main sur
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duration of the dive, maximum botto
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3.7 Natural disastersEnvironmental
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• Legislative review is underway
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− Manning Strait islands− Suava
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incentive treatment that fits the l
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continuing to enter the market. Thi
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Provisions for further aquaculture
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• licences will relate to a parti
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species in Australia are 5 - 10 tim
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6.3 Investor’s recommendations fo
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Report on an EU project grant to th
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Summary• Historically, the blackl
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1. IntroductionBlacklip pearl oyste
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3. Nationwide surveysIn May-June 20
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10 spat collectors were attached at
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On a local scale, it was found that
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3025Normalised catch201510500 2 4 6
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30Spat collector -125201510a. NoroL
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Figure 10. The number of Cymatium,
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Figure 11. Intermediate culture tra
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% survival10090HatcheryWild80706050
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Thus, under the regime developed in
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7.3 Retention and mortality after s
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7.5 Seeding of hatchery-produced sp
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have used average values of $25, $3
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9. ReferencesBraley, R.D. 1997. Fin
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depend mainly on the quality of the
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Report to:World Fish CenterSuitabil
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Suitability of Habitats for Growth
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Report to:World Fish CenterWater Te
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Report to:WorldFish CenterAbundance
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Abundance, Size Structure and Quali
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Page 244 and 245: Page 21. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYPearl far
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Page 262 and 263: Page 20In addition to licensing und
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Page 3414. Aggrieved person may app
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Page 36Division V. Importation, mov
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Page 38(2) Separate fees are payabl
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Page 40Other forms of government su
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Page 42Solomon IslandsPEARL FARMING
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