Solomon Islands: Considering e-trade readiness and potential developments
Last Friday, the Deputy Prime Minister Manasseh Maelanga together with the Premier of Malaita Province Daniel Suidani and the Australian Deputy High Commissioner, Sally Anne Vincent officially opened the Auki Cable Landing Station for the Domestic Network,
The Cable Landing Station at Auki is said to be a critical piece of the Solomon Islands Domestic Network infrastructure, housing the Auki end of the 730km submarine fibre optic cable that links Auki up with Honiara, and Honiara with Sydney and the rest of the world.
The Solomon Islands Domestic Network, which also connects to Noro and Taro, will transform internet connectivity in Solomon Islands.
The cable is designed to provide a level of internet capacity more than 6,000 times greater than current internet usage in Solomon Islands.
This will significantly enrich the digital environment, assisting tech enterprises and entrepreneurs, and working to transform the way Solomon Islanders access education, health and government services.
As one of Solomon Islands’ most populous provinces, Malaita Province will benefit greatly from the improved internet connectivity the Coral Sea Cable and the accompanying domestic network will bring.
This significant infrastructure investment will serve to better connect the region, its people, businesses, schools and organisations with the rest of the country and the world.
The cable can provide improved access to educational resources for school children and make available online skills-building and training for school leavers.
Greater internet connectivity also has the potential to allow access to telemedicine options and other civic services delivered online.
I very much hope to learn of e-commerrce growth and trust the opportunity will ba grasped by the private sector to spur trade at the domestic level and in international markets.
The focus should be on building a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, and fostering market development for associated products.
Current commercial activity online is limited to buyer-seller interactions, without actual order placement or payment. The base of e-commerce in Solomon Islands is low, and there are no lead firms.
Productive sectors especially tourism, agriculture and fisheries, which have been relatively neglected in the past in favour of logging and mining, should now start receiving the early attention necessary to provide significant development.
As a Pacific island economy, where goods-based trading incurs high costs, market development for trade, trade facilitation and logistics will be critical factors for success. Buyer-seller interaction online, however, is seen to be growing especially through social media sites and one hopes this will continue.
Sources: Solomon Star News and UN CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
