Building on trade
p. 43 · Read in the full issue
ties in Australia
WESTERN Samoa hopes to build on the successful results it achieved from its high-powered trade and investment mission to Austra lia in 1992 by sending a follow-up mission to the commonwealth later this month.
It will visit Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and again it will be at ministerial level and include govern ment officials and leading business people. But instead of conducting a series of seminars, as the mission did the first time, this one will host a series of lunches in the capital cities, inviting contacts it made on its earlier visit and others who have indicated interest.
There will be opportunities to discuss specific deals and to develop other propositions in the light of experience over the past 18 months.
The 1992 mission, which, like this one,
was arranged by the South Pacific Trade Commission, was a watershed in that it was the government’s first such mission to Australia in 30 years of Samoan independence. It made its mark by impressing on Australian investors just how far Samoa has gone in its determination to make foreign investment attractive, particularly in the areas of manufac turing and tourism. This latest visit is another new departure it marks the first time we have brought a mission back to consolidate and build on its earlier work. If it’s as successful as we expect, similar opportunities for others may follow.
The building of reliable trade contacts can’t be done overnight, and no matter how good the opportunities, there is always a getting-to-know-you period. Yazaki Australia, which assembles automotive electrical components near Apia, is one company prominent in the earlier mission which as since got to know Samoa very well and has continued to expand amazingly. Nor does it hesitate to pass on the news tp other Australian firms about the opportunities in Samoa and the enthusiastic support they can expect from the government.
Another trade promotion in Sydney this month a major South Pacific philatelic promotion and workshop from February 6-11 - is building on a similar exercise undertaken in 1992. It will promote island stamps and give the Australian philatelic industry and collectors the chance to make personal contacts with the various island philatelic bureaus, buy material and discuss production and other matters.
In attendance will be managers from bureaus in the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, PNG, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Samoa, plus other representatives from New Caledonia and French Polynesia.
The displays, open to the public, will promote the wide range of island stamps and the workshops will provide the bureau managers with the opportunity to discuss such common interests as pricing, production, promotion, pack aging, distribution, quality control, customer service, management and training. They should lead to better
coordination and integration and help develop the island bureau’s long-term market strategies.
Philatelic sales are an important source of foreign exchange in the Pacific, particularly among the smaller island nations. So this promotion is being coordinated by the Australian fovernment’s Trade and Investment romotion Service (TIPS) and funded under the terms of SPARTECA by the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau as part of Australia’s overseas aid program.
The trade commission works closely with TIPS on the SPARTECA pro gramme and in the staging of island trade displays and investment seminars like these. Liaison with Australian government offices and South Pacific diplomats credited to Australia is an important part of our brief in further
ing island trade and investment, and one of the reasons we
are Sydney-based.
Meanwhile, for the past few months our assistant marketing officer, Greg oimunovic, has among his many other tasks been working closely with the Tourism Council of the South Pacific on plans for the South Pacific Village at the 1994 International Holiday and Travel Show. The show will be staged in Melbourne Qune 17-19) and Sydney
(June 24-26).
A lot of work is going into it because the travel show has special significance this year. It will mark the official launch in Australia of “Visit the South Pacific Year ’95”. Similar campaigns are being coordinated in New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan, for the big year will market the South Pacific as a distinct regional identity, and a value-for-money tourist destination. The plan is to stimulate permanent tourist growth in the South Pacific.
As a build up, there is an extensive public relations and publicity plan to promote the South Pacific right through this year, with newspaper and magazine features, radio and television programmes, sponsorship of competitions and performances etc. We will use some of our own budget to extend the message in association with this year’s travel show.
The South Pacific Village has been given even more space, and the focal point will be a stage in the form of a giant island outrigger. This replaces the award-winning smoking, roaring ‘volcano’ of recent years.
Meanwhile, as I reported in reviewing the 1993 activities of the Sydney office in last month’s PIM column, the major part of our work is still responding promptly to queries from island business people, preparing information and otherwise offering business advice within the constraints of our resources to everyone who seeks it. If you want to help or to take part in any off our promotion, phone or fax. Our service is free. • Bill McCabe is senior commissioner of the South Pacific Trade Commission, Sydney an arm of the South Pacific Forum.