A future ... of fish,

sheep and taxes

By Beryl Cook

TUVALU’S Prime Minister Bikenibeu Paeniu voiced thanks for the past and hopes for the future during his visit to Fiji last month.

Paeniu said Fiji was Tuvalu’s gateway to the rest of the world, it was Tuvalu’s biggest trading partner, and he hoped to develop this trade further. Fiji had helped educate and train his people, and he hoped it also would supply trained and professional people, he said.

Big catch in fishing

While in Fiji, Paeniu signed a $950,000 fisheries aid package deal with United States Ambassador Evelyn Teegen. This deal was mainly for marketing and pilot projects to develop sea resources for domestic and export markets, and would mainly cover deep sea snapper projects.

But Prime Minister Paeniu also has hopes for Tuvalu’s skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna. He expressed a hope

Fiji’s Pacific Fishing Company

(PAFCO) might fish in Tuvalu waters, as it did in the Solomon Islands, to take

up the demand which Fiji waters could not satisfy. This may be particularly attractive to PAFCO in the tuna off season in Fiji. Paeniu said this arrange ment could boost employment for Tu valu’s population of 8400.

On the sheep trail There was more than a multitude of fish on Paeniu’s mind. He also was impressed

with the sheep-rearing project on Fiji’s

Makogai island. The no-wool sheep, which are suitable to hot climates, probably could survive on Tuvalu’s flat lands provided the grass was available.

This had definite potential as a way to expand Tuvalu’s agriculture, he said.

New tax likely Diverting from the natural wonders of the world, Paeniu turned to Fiji’s Value Added Tax proposal. He was as decisive on the touchy tax topic as he was on Fiji’s

petroleum supply plans (see page 12).

Regarding VAT, he said he would like to see it introduced in Tuvalu “as soon as possible”.

“This tax system, which is a fair one, could help our low income-earning civil servants, who’d have their income tax reduced,” he said. “By lowering income tax the dollar would be worth more to them and at the same time create more income and revenue from tax by diver sifying the tax base.” □