PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

HONOLULU (Pacific Islands Report, Sept. 13) – The Asian Development Bank has released a report showing that economic growth slowed in Fiji last year while growing in Papua New Guinea.

The report, released Sept. 6, is part of the ADB’s Asian Development Outlook, which examines the economies of 43 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The report includes the Pacific nations of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the smaller economies of the Cook Islands, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

According to the report, Fiji’s economy lost momentum in 2005 despite growth in tourism, which was offset by a struggling sugar industry and the loss of preferential trade benefits in the country’s garment industry.

The economy expanded by an estimated 1.7 percent in 2005, after average growth of 3.4 percent from 1999 to 2004, the report says.

Papua New Guinea, by contrast, saw economic growth of 3 percent last year despite rising crime, corruption, and limited infrastructure. The report credits Australian financial and governmental support.

The remaining island economies, bunched together as "Small Pacific countries," saw modest growth of 2.5 percent to 5 percent.

For full details of the reports, click on Asian Development Outlook.

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