Business Briefs

@ An export-oriented for e s 1 industry, with most of the processing in Papua New Guinea, will be developed at Powell Harbour, Nev Britain, and also at Rabaul, if land is available. The PNG Government and the Open Bay Timber Co have completed negotiations to develop a large forest industry in the Open Ba> area. It is estimated the area has 256,300 acres of commercial forest The Open Bay Timber Co is a joint venture of Japanese (Sobu Adachi) and Australian (Thiess Bros) interests and the PNG Government ® Air New Zealand’s EPIC (earl> purchase individual contract) fare scheme between New Zealand anc Fiji got away to a flying start. In the first week EPIC became available 225 people used the scheme to gc from New Zealand to Fiji. For the August school holidays 22 returr flights a week were scheduled, com pared with 13 in August, 1972. Ir December there would be 21 flights compared with 14 in 1972. @ The Vila Urban Consumers Co operative Society in its first distribu tion has paid a bonus of 7c for ever] dollar. The total payout was $7,000 Some members received $l2O. Th< society has a turnover of $106,000 which makes it the largest society ir the New Hebrides. The committe< will build a modern store to catei for an expected increase in member ship and turnover. ® The New Zealand and Cool Islands governments will co-operat< in a joint venture to provide touris accommodation in the Cook Islandj through a consortium of the N 2 Tourist Hotel Corporation, Air Nev Zealand and the Cook Islands Govern ment. The two New Zealanc organisations will send representa

ftives to the Cook Islands to look at hotel sites. Construction of hotels is expected to start soon. • Lagoon Aviation Inc, of Majuro, and Marshall Islands Air Taxi Service have launched a new air taxi service for the Marshall Islands, using a Grumman Widgeon sea plane. The base will be the new Marshall Islands international air port at Majuro. The aircraft will carry five fare-paying passengers.

Plans call for a limited scheduled service in the Marshalls district. © A new pay scale has been agreed to for employees of the Gilbert-Ellice Islands Development Authority. Increases of 2ic an hour for some grades have been made retrospective to July 1, 1972. • Mr W. H. Lord, general manager of Burns Philp Finance Ltd, has been appointed to the board of the company. e American Airlines took over management of the Pago Pago Hotel in May. The hotel is now known as Pago Pago Americana. The managing director is Mr Henry Schaninck. A

Samoan will be appointed resident manager. © Mr Nigel Hunt, 31, who has held a number of executive positions with Jardine Matheson and Co Ltd in South-East Asia, has been ap pointed manager of the Hunts group’s tourist interests in Fiji.

Jardine Matheson, in 1972, bought a substantial minority share in Hunts. © The Japanese-owned bauxite mines in Vanua Levu, Fiji, have been closed because of continued world wide depressed prices for aluminium.

Persistent heavy rain also made operations difficult. The mine could reopen, but it won’t be for a long time yet. 9 The Western Samoa Govern ment has appointed a committee to investigate liquor distribution. At present the government controls all importation and distribution of liquor, which is sold to retailers and the public from the government’s liquor bond store. The committee will consider direct distribution by retailers, but it is not yet clear whether the government will remain sole importer.

® Fish cannery permits for Van Camp and Star Kist in American Samoa require the companies to reduce their discharge of waste in Pago Pago Bay by 80 per cent by January 1, 1974. The permits require the canneries to install huge holding tanks and purifying tanks in which the waste must be treated before it is dumped into the bay. The systems will break down oil, grease and solid materials. & The New Hebrides Development Company is to build a $300,000 abattoir at Vila. Primarily, it will process its own cattle and pig pro duces, but will also process the cattle of other breeders on a commercial basis. The abattoir will also buy cattle on the hoof. © Taro crops on the islands of Atiu and Mauke in the Cooks have been attacked by the Pythium fungus and may be wiped out this year. © The Cook Islands, apart from any financial aid it receives from New Zealand, is also entitled to foreign aid available to Pacific ter ritories. This point was cleared up

by the Premier, Mr Albert Henry, on a recent visit to New Zealand.

Under an agreement with the United Nations NZ has the responsibility of providing at least 1 per cent of financial aid in the Pacific. It had been thought that as the Cook Islands already received financial aid from NZ, it was not entitled to a share of that money. • The Cook Islands is getting on the duty free “band wagon”. The system will be the same as that of Fiji, where duty free items are avail able to local people as well as to visitors. The duty free lines will also be similar to those offered in Fiji. • The Western Samoa Trust Estates Corporation (WSTEC) is making a determined drive to revive an ailing banana industry. More than 2.000 acres of bushland inland of Mulifanua have been cleared for new suckers, of which some have reached the fruit-bearing stage. • The Papua New Guinea Government will soon offer shares in up to eight companies to Papua New Guineans through the Investment Corporation. Minimum investments will be $lOO for 100 shares. The shares cover a wide range. • Visitors to Western Samoa during the first four months of this year totalled 11,333. The total re presents all categories of visitors such as American Samoans visiting relatives or attending conferences.

The 1972 total was 46,356 while 42,907 came in 1971. This year, visitors will probably exceed the 50.000 mark. • One of two wartime 8,700 ft airstrips at the south end of Saipan in the Marianas will be renovated for use as the island’s principal com mercial airfield. Isley Field, as the site is now known, has not been used since 1949. The present field, Kobler, will be closed when Isley is again operational, possibly at the end of 1974. • The Agricultural Aid Fund of the Province of British Columbia, Canada, will provide $U536,250 for the Mahinae’s farm training project run by the Methodist Church in Tonga. Money will buy equipment, livestock, and pay some of the run ning expenses for four years. • Australia has opened the purse strings to give $450,000 worth of aid to the GEIC for a water supply system for Betio.