for us?

What’s in it for us?

THE question has been asked time and again, and the query will continue until people are satisfied rith the answers.

They ask: What will the five Pacific ountries taking part in Expo ’92 in ipain gain? These knockers query the housands of dollars spent to send the five

lations Papua New Guinea, Fiji,

Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Kiribati - to Seville, presumptuously declaring hat there is little in return to be had.

Perhaps it was such queries that saw he Cook Islands, Western Samoa, "onga and Tuvalu pull out of the Pacific

Ullage at Expo.

The Solomons hung in limbo for a long rhile, but good sense prevailed and the [>untry’s Minister of Finance basically eclared “We’re going find the loney.”

Wilson Maelaua, vice-chairman of the olomons Islands Government Expo ’92 lommittee, knows the benefits of such an (position. As general manager of the □lomon Islands Tourist Authority, he iys the tourism benefits from the 1988 risbane Expo are being felt now.

Maelaua said the exposure they get om this year’s Expo will not only boost icir tourism industry, but expose their ade and investment opportunities.

Similar sentiments are shared by the her Pacific participants.

Camillus Narokobi, commissioner ;neral of Expo ’92 Papua New Guinea, ants the world to experience PNG from ; natural environment to its natural sources to its trade and investment >ssibilities. Vanuatu and Fiji want to esent to themselves to Europe and the

arid along similar lines.

Kiribati, the smallest participant at

Expo, will have more modest plans. Its 33 islands, with a land area of 810.68 sq km, do not possess the infrastructure required for any large-scale investment, and at Seville its hopes will rest on tourism and fishing.

That such a tiny island nation is participating in such a major interna tional event shows tremendous foresight, but as Pacific Pavilion director Peter Colton points out, the cost is worth it.

Kiribati’s contribution is US$5O,OOO for the six months of Expo. An estimated 40 million visitors are expected through the site with around three million expected through the Pacific Pavilion.

Millions will also be reached by tele vision, radio, magazine and newspaper coverage.

As Colton points out, imagine how far

Kiribati’s $50,000 would go if they spent it on a publicity campaign in Europe, the United States or Australia. Even Fiji’s US$9OO,OOO contribution seems a fair price to pay for the returns.

After the Brisbane Expo in 1988, tourist numbers to Fiji showed a marked increase and there has been investment in the country directly linked to their

participation.

Perhaps the best way to look at it is to listen to the words of Pacific Pavilion director Colton: “If the Pacific wants to adopt the view that we should not take part n major world events then fine, except for the fact that the world will forget about you because if you’re not there you’re not noticed and you’re not known. They just won’t be aware of you in a highly competitive world.” □

Co-ordinated effort: Pacific Discoveries’ Bernadette Ganilau and Peter Colton work out the last details of the big Expo promotional effort