Private Enterprise Partnership - Pacifi c Private Enterprise Partnership - Pacifi c

Fourth QuarterFinancial Year 2007

Private EnterprisePartnership - Pacifi c

For further information contactLevel 18, 14 Martin PlaceCML BuildingSydney NSW 2000

Phone 61 2 9223 7773

Fax 61 2 9223 2533

Email peppacific@ifc.org

General Manager (Acting)

Robert Simms

Operational Staff

John Perrottet

Philip Olsen

Peter Cusack

Rainer Venghaus

Alan Moody

Jennifer Bartlett

Johanna Johansson

Administration Staff

Cathy St Ledger

Aphrodite Ioannou

Jane Hulme

Suzanne Harvey

Nga Trinh

Alberto Nunes

Private EnterprisePartnership - Pacifi c

Co-fi nanced by

Australia

International Finance Corporation

Japan

New Zealand

Managed by

International Finance Corporation, a member of The World Bank Group.

The IFC Private Enterprise Partnership - Pacific (PEP-Pacific) is a multidonor initiative managed and funded by IFC. Other donors include Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. Its primary objective is poverty reduction through employment-generating, sustainable private sector development. Programs focus on access to finance, tourism, and business climate development. The initiative works with partners to strengthen and stimulate small and medium enterprises, helping create jobs, raise living standards, and alleviate poverty.

Through PEP-Pacific, IFC serves member countries including Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

Pacifi cQuarterly

Around the Pacifi c

IFC Participates in Pro-Poor Tourism Workshop

IFC representatives participated in an International Pro-Poor Tourism workshop hosted by NZAID in Wellington on June 18-19, 2007.

IFC was represented by John Perrottet, Tourism Program Manager for PEP-Pacifi c, and Kate Lloyd-Williams and Hourn Thy, of the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF). They were among delegates from NZAID’s partner countries and other pro-poor tourism providers discussing more effective strategies to increase the benefi ts of the tourism industry for poor people.

“The workshop gave delegates from around the world, including participants from Fiji, Samoa, Indonesia and Laos, an opportunity to share experiences and more importantly decide what is best practice in sustainable tourism development,” said Mr Perrottet.

NZAID will use information obtained from the workshop as best practice notes for its programs and in the development of strategic guidance to tourism sector work.

IFC Sponsors Pacific Microfinance Conference

IFC PEP-Pacifi c is sponsoring a conference in Papua New Guinea for key stakeholders to share information on providing fi nancial services to all, particularly underserved markets to promote sustainable development. This will help increase access to remittances, payment services and insurance, savings and credit in the Pacifi c islands.

The conference will be held August 27-31, 2007, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel during the Pacifi c Microfi nance Week. An initiative of Microfi nance Pasifi ka Network, the conference will be organised by the Foundation for Development Cooperation, the PNG Institute of Banking and Business Management, and the Microfi nance Competence Center.

The event will bring together donors, banks, Microfi nance Pasifi ka members, microfinance institutions, and other supporters to network and share experiences. A series of workshops and presentations will address issues related to microfi nance, including technology, linkages and

partnerships, asset building for the poor, and the role of central banks and governments. Key presentations will include microfi nance and fi nancial inclusion in Papua New Guinea as well as fi nancial markets infrastructure, with an emphasis on credit bureaus.

“The week provides the Pacifi c microfi nance community in the Pacifi c with a unique opportunity to exchange views and experiences. They will learn about global best practices and how microfi nance trends affect the region,” said Brigit Helms, IFC Sector Leader for Access to Finance. “More importantly, this will enable participants to identify a few regional priorities to work on collectively.”

Ms Helms will make the keynote address. Other IFC representatives will be Robert Simms, PEP-Pacific Acting General Manager; Peter Cusack, PNG Country Coordinator; and Tony Lythgoe and Peter Sheerin, IFC Credit Bureau and Risk Management Advisors, Global Financial Markets.

IFC’s Hotel Investment Strategy Outlined at Hotels Conference

The Australia, New Zealand and Pacifi c Hotels Conference (ANZPHIC) was held at the Hilton in Sydney on June 21-22, 2007, with John Perrottet, IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program Manager, part of a panel that discussed where the best hotel investment opportunities were from a global perspective.

About 400 delegates, including hotel and resort owners, operators and other stakeholders looked at issues such as exploring new market sectors and value buying opportunities in new markets.

“Many institutions are now looking to invest in the tourism sector in emerging markets,” Mr Perrottet said. “This forum enabled IFC to share its unique experience with large institutions keen to seek out new opportunities in frontier economies.”

The event was jointly hosted by real estate advisers Sonnenblick Goldman, hotel consultants Horwath HTL and lawyers Blake Dawson Waldron.

Samoa Tourism InvestmentSeminar Spurs Sector ReformThe recent Samoa Tour i sm Investment Seminar, organised by IFC and the Samoa Hotel Association, has paved the way for future dialogue between fi nancial institutions, government agencies, and the private sector on remaining obstacles to tourism development in Samoa, with the seminar’s success prompting calls for an ongoing forum to address these issues.

The four-day seminar, sponsored by IFC PEP-Pacifi c, was held at Aggie Grey’s Resort in June 2007.

Private investors, government agencies and senior representatives from financial institutions participated in the seminar, which was designed in response to an identified need to improve access to finance in Samoa’s tourism sector and focused on building local capacity to identify, facilitate and progress tourism investment opportunities.

“IFC brought together key players in Samoa’s industry along with substantial input from many offshore participants,” said John Boyle, an investment consultant in Samoa. “The seminar explored and highlighted the key challenges for the industry, and indeed the country, in addressing the issues of financing tourism investment.”

Industry experts had panel and open

discussions with delegates on these issues, which included what investors need to know before entering the tourism industry; how to advance a tourism project; how to manage risks; where to go for financing; land and legal considerations; the role of the public sector; and how to grow businesses when they are successful.

“One of the seminar’s key outcomes was a program of recommendations for future reform and we are working with government and private enterprise to effect change,” said John Perrottet, IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program Manager. “Several new proposals for investment in tourism projects are in the pipeline following the seminar, which is clearly a good sign for the future.”

The future of Samoa’s tourism sector is certainly looking brighter, with higher hotel occupancy rates boosting optimism and the government demonstrating its commitment to tourism development by allocating more money to tourism in the new tourism budget; ensuring the creation of jobs and foreign exchange infl ows.

The Samoan government participated in the seminar, with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi opening the seminar and Misa Telefoni, Samoan Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, closing it at a gala dinner. Mr Telefoni said delegates expressed to him the practical value of the seminar’s content.

This seminar followed a similar and equally successful event in Fiji in 2005. Other countries are keen to enlist IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program’s help, with Mr Perrottet receiving requests to run similar programs in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu.

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Pacif ic Takes the Sustainable Road to Tourism Development

Steady growth in the Pacifi c region’s tourism sector is emphasising the potential for further sustainable development of the industry, with industry leaders claiming such development is critical to the Pacifi c’s future.

“Most Pacifi c leaders are now realising that sustainable tourism development is not only important for the tourism industry but underpins the health of the overall economy,” said John Perrottet, Tourism Program Manager for IFC PEP-Pacifi c. “A healthy tourism industry is critical to the region’s future.”

Jasmine Robinson, Senior Economist with ANZ International and a key author of a recent report on Tourism in the Pacifi c, said fi gures released by the World Travel and Tourism Council reveal that the tourism industry accounts for a fi fth of the Pacifi c’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employment.

“Employment in the travel and tourism industry accounts for close to 20 percent of the total workforce in the Pacifi c, against the world average of 8.3 percent,” Ms Robinson said. “Looking at visitor profi les, there was a steady climb in visitor numbers and expenditure patterns between the period 2000 and 2004.”

This growing demand for travel in the Pacifi c has been paying dividends, according to Tony Everitt, Chief Executive Offi cer of the South Pacifi c Tourism Organisation, South Pacifi c Travel. “Increased receipts from tourism have helped Pacifi c island countries maintain their balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves,” said Mr Everitt.

Ms Robinson said there is vast scope to develop the tourism sector further, with the region’s reputation as a relaxing destination an obvious draw. Samoa is an example of the buoyant growth that the Pacifi c is experiencing, with 24 percent growth in holiday visitors last year. This growth can be attributed to the introduction of the new airline, Polynesian Blue, the new Aggie Grey’s Resort and increasing government support for tourism.

IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program is focusing on helping countries in the Pacifi c mobilise investment in the tourism sector in a sustainable way. It achieves this by improving market access, helping fi rms become more competitive and supporting regulatory reforms which impact directly on the tourism sector.

“Pacifi c governments have identifi ed tourism as a priority export industry, while recognising the importance of the tourist economy to foreign exchange and job creation,” Mr Perrottet said.

“These countries are allocating increasing resources to tourism development and marketing and want to ensure the sustainable development of the tourism sector.”

Tourism growth in the Pacifi c is expected to remain strong; with Ms Robinson predicting the increased amount of investment being pumped into the Pacifi c’s tourism sector will underpin growth over the medium term.

Jennifer Bartlett, IFC PEP-Pacifi c Tourism Program Offi cer and Dominic Fonoti, staff member of Aggie Grey’s Resort in Samoa, at the Samoa Tourism Investment Seminar

IFC Helping Formulate PNG National Informal Economy Policy

The informal economy plays a crucial role in providing livelihoods for Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) people and a central role in income and employment generation, with about 80 percent of workers employed in the informal economy.

Although informal businesses make a contribution, albeit undocumented, to PNG’s economy, such economic activity produces significantly fewer benefits to the state and its citizens than formal economic activity.

The overall consequences for the country are lower productivity, slower economic growth, a smaller public purse and an increasing social divide. The absence of reliable data on the scale and productivity of the informal economy constrains the production of reliable national accounts.

Recognising the need to produce suitable policy responses, the government has been working with IFC PEP-Pacific and the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) to develop a National Informal Economy Policy in PNG, following a request from PNG’s Department of Community Development.

“The goal of the National Informal Economy Policy initiative is to provide a whole-of-government approach to developing and implementing policies and programs that will ease the burden of earning a livelihood informally, promote informal enterprises, and assist some Papua New Guineans to transition to formal business,” said Peter Cusack, IFC PEP-Pacific’s PNG Country Coordinator.

“Another goal, over time, will be to simplify the institutional mechanisms governing the informal economy and integrate them as far as possible with those dealing with the formal economy.”

IFC’s support involves participation in a National Informal Economy Consultative Committee, a National Informal Economy Technical Working Group, and the commissioning of a survey of the informal economy.

A Fiji-based survey firm was engaged to undertake the survey which involves 800 enterprises (fully informal, partially formal and fully formal) and several community leaders from each sampling area. Data analysis will commence soon.

The project will be delivered in three phases and includes a survey to obtain baseline data and a subsequent analytical study of informality from the data; policy recommendations formulated from the analysis given to the PNG government addressing the key issues, which may include regulatory simplification, licensing reforms and support to small and medium enterprises; and the implementation activities, being driven by the PNG National Consultative Committee on the Informal Economy.

The Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council, hosted by the PNG Institute of National Affairs, is acting as secretariat for the Informal Economy Policy Development Program.

Pacif ic Takes the Sustainable Road to Tourism Development

Steady growth in the Pacifi c region’s tourism sector is emphasising the potential for further sustainable development of the industry, with industry leaders claiming such development is critical to the Pacifi c’s future.

“Most Pacifi c leaders are now realising that sustainable tourism development is not only important for the tourism industry but underpins the health of the overall economy,” said John Perrottet, Tourism Program Manager for IFC PEP-Pacifi c. “A healthy tourism industry is critical to the region’s future.”

Jasmine Robinson, Senior Economist with ANZ International and a key author of a recent report on Tourism in the Pacifi c, said fi gures released by the World Travel and Tourism Council reveal that the tourism industry accounts for a fi fth of the Pacifi c’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employment.

“Employment in the travel and tourism industry accounts for close to 20 percent of the total workforce in the Pacifi c, against the world average of 8.3 percent,” Ms Robinson said. “Looking at visitor profi les, there was a steady climb in visitor numbers and expenditure patterns between the period 2000 and 2004.”

This growing demand for travel in the Pacifi c has been paying dividends, according to Tony Everitt, Chief Executive Offi cer of the South Pacifi c Tourism Organisation, South Pacifi c Travel. “Increased receipts from tourism have helped Pacifi c island countries maintain their balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves,” said Mr Everitt.

Ms Robinson said there is vast scope to develop the tourism sector further, with the region’s reputation as a relaxing destination an obvious draw. Samoa is an example of the buoyant growth that the Pacifi c is experiencing, with 24 percent growth in holiday visitors last year. This growth can be attributed to the introduction of the new airline, Polynesian Blue, the new Aggie Grey’s Resort and increasing government support for tourism.

IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program is focusing on helping countries in the Pacifi c mobilise investment in the tourism sector in a sustainable way. It achieves this by improving market access, helping fi rms become more competitive and supporting regulatory reforms which impact directly on the tourism sector.

“Pacifi c governments have identifi ed tourism as a priority export industry, while recognising the importance of the tourist economy to foreign exchange and job creation,” Mr Perrottet said.

“These countries are allocating increasing resources to tourism development and marketing and want to ensure the sustainable development of the tourism sector.”

Tourism growth in the Pacifi c is expected to remain strong; with Ms Robinson predicting the increased amount of investment being pumped into the Pacifi c’s tourism sector will underpin growth over the medium term.

Jennifer Bartlett, IFC PEP-Pacifi c Tourism Program Offi cer and Dominic Fonoti, staff member of Aggie Grey’s Resort in Samoa, at the Samoa Tourism Investment Seminar

IFC Helping Formulate PNG National Informal Economy Policy

The informal economy plays a crucial role in providing livelihoods for Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) people and a central role in income and employment generation, with about 80 percent of workers employed in the informal economy.

Although informal businesses make a contribution, albeit undocumented, to PNG’s economy, such economic activity produces significantly fewer benefits to the state and its citizens than formal economic activity.

The overall consequences for the country are lower productivity, slower economic growth, a smaller public purse and an increasing social divide. The absence of reliable data on the scale and productivity of the informal economy constrains the production of reliable national accounts.

Recognising the need to produce suitable policy responses, the government has been working with IFC PEP-Pacific and the Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS) to develop a National Informal Economy Policy in PNG, following a request from PNG’s Department of Community Development.

“The goal of the National Informal Economy Policy initiative is to provide a whole-of-government approach to developing and implementing policies and programs that will ease the burden of earning a livelihood informally, promote informal enterprises, and assist some Papua New Guineans to transition to formal business,” said Peter Cusack, IFC PEP-Pacific’s PNG Country Coordinator.

“Another goal, over time, will be to simplify the institutional mechanisms governing the informal economy and integrate them as far as possible with those dealing with the formal economy.”

IFC’s support involves participation in a National Informal Economy Consultative Committee, a National Informal Economy Technical Working Group, and the commissioning of a survey of the informal economy.

A Fiji-based survey firm was engaged to undertake the survey which involves 800 enterprises (fully informal, partially formal and fully formal) and several community leaders from each sampling area. Data analysis will commence soon.

The project will be delivered in three phases and includes a survey to obtain baseline data and a subsequent analytical study of informality from the data; policy recommendations formulated from the analysis given to the PNG government addressing the key issues, which may include regulatory simplification, licensing reforms and support to small and medium enterprises; and the implementation activities, being driven by the PNG National Consultative Committee on the Informal Economy.

The Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council, hosted by the PNG Institute of National Affairs, is acting as secretariat for the Informal Economy Policy Development Program.

Private Enterprise Partnership - Pacifi c Private Enterprise Partnership - Pacifi c

Fourth QuarterFinancial Year 2007

Private EnterprisePartnership - Pacifi c

For further information contactLevel 18, 14 Martin PlaceCML BuildingSydney NSW 2000

Phone 61 2 9223 7773

Fax 61 2 9223 2533

Email peppacific@ifc.org

General Manager (Acting)

Robert Simms

Operational Staff

John Perrottet

Philip Olsen

Peter Cusack

Rainer Venghaus

Alan Moody

Jennifer Bartlett

Johanna Johansson

Administration Staff

Cathy St Ledger

Aphrodite Ioannou

Jane Hulme

Suzanne Harvey

Nga Trinh

Alberto Nunes

Private EnterprisePartnership - Pacifi c

Co-fi nanced by

Australia

International Finance Corporation

Japan

New Zealand

Managed by

International Finance Corporation, a member of The World Bank Group.

The IFC Private Enterprise Partnership - Pacific (PEP-Pacific) is a multidonor initiative managed and funded by IFC. Other donors include Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. Its primary objective is poverty reduction through employment-generating, sustainable private sector development. Programs focus on access to finance, tourism, and business climate development. The initiative works with partners to strengthen and stimulate small and medium enterprises, helping create jobs, raise living standards, and alleviate poverty.

Through PEP-Pacific, IFC serves member countries including Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

Pacifi cQuarterly

Around the Pacifi c

IFC Participates in Pro-Poor Tourism Workshop

IFC representatives participated in an International Pro-Poor Tourism workshop hosted by NZAID in Wellington on June 18-19, 2007.

IFC was represented by John Perrottet, Tourism Program Manager for PEP-Pacifi c, and Kate Lloyd-Williams and Hourn Thy, of the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF). They were among delegates from NZAID’s partner countries and other pro-poor tourism providers discussing more effective strategies to increase the benefi ts of the tourism industry for poor people.

“The workshop gave delegates from around the world, including participants from Fiji, Samoa, Indonesia and Laos, an opportunity to share experiences and more importantly decide what is best practice in sustainable tourism development,” said Mr Perrottet.

NZAID will use information obtained from the workshop as best practice notes for its programs and in the development of strategic guidance to tourism sector work.

IFC Sponsors Pacific Microfinance Conference

IFC PEP-Pacifi c is sponsoring a conference in Papua New Guinea for key stakeholders to share information on providing fi nancial services to all, particularly underserved markets to promote sustainable development. This will help increase access to remittances, payment services and insurance, savings and credit in the Pacifi c islands.

The conference will be held August 27-31, 2007, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel during the Pacifi c Microfi nance Week. An initiative of Microfi nance Pasifi ka Network, the conference will be organised by the Foundation for Development Cooperation, the PNG Institute of Banking and Business Management, and the Microfi nance Competence Center.

The event will bring together donors, banks, Microfi nance Pasifi ka members, microfinance institutions, and other supporters to network and share experiences. A series of workshops and presentations will address issues related to microfi nance, including technology, linkages and

partnerships, asset building for the poor, and the role of central banks and governments. Key presentations will include microfi nance and fi nancial inclusion in Papua New Guinea as well as fi nancial markets infrastructure, with an emphasis on credit bureaus.

“The week provides the Pacifi c microfi nance community in the Pacifi c with a unique opportunity to exchange views and experiences. They will learn about global best practices and how microfi nance trends affect the region,” said Brigit Helms, IFC Sector Leader for Access to Finance. “More importantly, this will enable participants to identify a few regional priorities to work on collectively.”

Ms Helms will make the keynote address. Other IFC representatives will be Robert Simms, PEP-Pacific Acting General Manager; Peter Cusack, PNG Country Coordinator; and Tony Lythgoe and Peter Sheerin, IFC Credit Bureau and Risk Management Advisors, Global Financial Markets.

IFC’s Hotel Investment Strategy Outlined at Hotels Conference

The Australia, New Zealand and Pacifi c Hotels Conference (ANZPHIC) was held at the Hilton in Sydney on June 21-22, 2007, with John Perrottet, IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program Manager, part of a panel that discussed where the best hotel investment opportunities were from a global perspective.

About 400 delegates, including hotel and resort owners, operators and other stakeholders looked at issues such as exploring new market sectors and value buying opportunities in new markets.

“Many institutions are now looking to invest in the tourism sector in emerging markets,” Mr Perrottet said. “This forum enabled IFC to share its unique experience with large institutions keen to seek out new opportunities in frontier economies.”

The event was jointly hosted by real estate advisers Sonnenblick Goldman, hotel consultants Horwath HTL and lawyers Blake Dawson Waldron.

Samoa Tourism InvestmentSeminar Spurs Sector ReformThe recent Samoa Tour i sm Investment Seminar, organised by IFC and the Samoa Hotel Association, has paved the way for future dialogue between fi nancial institutions, government agencies, and the private sector on remaining obstacles to tourism development in Samoa, with the seminar’s success prompting calls for an ongoing forum to address these issues.

The four-day seminar, sponsored by IFC PEP-Pacifi c, was held at Aggie Grey’s Resort in June 2007.

Private investors, government agencies and senior representatives from financial institutions participated in the seminar, which was designed in response to an identified need to improve access to finance in Samoa’s tourism sector and focused on building local capacity to identify, facilitate and progress tourism investment opportunities.

“IFC brought together key players in Samoa’s industry along with substantial input from many offshore participants,” said John Boyle, an investment consultant in Samoa. “The seminar explored and highlighted the key challenges for the industry, and indeed the country, in addressing the issues of financing tourism investment.”

Industry experts had panel and open

discussions with delegates on these issues, which included what investors need to know before entering the tourism industry; how to advance a tourism project; how to manage risks; where to go for financing; land and legal considerations; the role of the public sector; and how to grow businesses when they are successful.

“One of the seminar’s key outcomes was a program of recommendations for future reform and we are working with government and private enterprise to effect change,” said John Perrottet, IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program Manager. “Several new proposals for investment in tourism projects are in the pipeline following the seminar, which is clearly a good sign for the future.”

The future of Samoa’s tourism sector is certainly looking brighter, with higher hotel occupancy rates boosting optimism and the government demonstrating its commitment to tourism development by allocating more money to tourism in the new tourism budget; ensuring the creation of jobs and foreign exchange infl ows.

The Samoan government participated in the seminar, with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi opening the seminar and Misa Telefoni, Samoan Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, closing it at a gala dinner. Mr Telefoni said delegates expressed to him the practical value of the seminar’s content.

This seminar followed a similar and equally successful event in Fiji in 2005. Other countries are keen to enlist IFC PEP-Pacifi c’s Tourism Program’s help, with Mr Perrottet receiving requests to run similar programs in Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Vanuatu.