Just after the last General Election in the Solomon Islands, Dr. Lincy Pendeverana, Head of the Department of Geography at the Solomon Islands National University wrote what I thought to be an informative and incitive article on the geo-political situation in the Solomon Islands and her article was published by the Asia Society.
I will quote from her article.
Quote.
"The newly elected prime minister, Jeremiah Manele, may be faced with potential challenges and opportunities amid the ongoing geopolitical competition in the region.
Besides the challenges, Manele also has several opportunities that can be leveraged for the development of Solomon Islands and the region. One of the opportunities lies in the country’s natural resources including its rich biodiversity, fertile land, and abundant marine resources. Manele could initiate deals with both China and United States to assist in promoting sustainable resource management practices, ecotourism initiatives, and agricultural diversification to harness the economic potentials of the country. A classic example is the reviewing of bills and legislation relating to natural resource such as the Forestry Act and the Mines and Minerals Act that Manele noted during his inaugural speech. Here, Manele could leverage technical assistance from China, the United States, Australia, or other donor partners.
Increased competition among global powers over the region and Solomon Islands in particular presents opportunities for greater investments, development assistance, and infrastructure projects in the region. Manele’s government could leverage this competition, albeit with caution, to secure resources and support for key government development priorities in areas such as infrastructure, health care, and education. An example could be a request for an increased number of scholarships from Australia, China, the United States, and other donor partners for Solomon Islands students to study in overseas universities as well as locally at Solomon Islands National University (SINU) and other institutions of learning in the region.
As a small island developing state in the Pacific, Solomon Islands, under the leadership of Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele, can potentially play a strategic role in promoting dialogue between China and the United States, facilitating, where possible, communication and collaboration on common challenges in Solomon Islands and the region. These include greater investments, development assistance, and infrastructure projects in the region. Manele’s government could leverage this competition, albeit with caution, to secure resources and support for key government development priorities in areas such as infrastructure, health care, and education. An example could be a request for an increased number of scholarships from Australia, China, the United States, and other donor partners for Solomon Islands students to study in overseas universities as well as locally at Solomon Islands National University (SINU) and other institutions of learning in the region.
As a small island developing state in the Pacific, Solomon Islands, under the leadership of Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele, can potentially play a strategic role in promoting dialogue between China and the United States, facilitating, where possible, communication and collaboration on common challenges in Solomon Islands and the region. These include climate change, maritime security, and economic development. By engaging with both China and the United States in a constructive and mutually beneficial manner, Solomon Islands can position itself as a valuable partner in regional politics and fulfill its foreign policy stance of “Friends to all and enemy to none.”
End of quote.
Comment
Dr Pendeverana's shrewd observations will not have gone unnoticed by Australia and New Zealand and I would be very interested to know just what has yet been done by the two long term diplomatic partners in practical terms to match PM Manele's ambitious objectives to see SI benefit from help with climate change, maritime security, and economic development on a large scale ,unemployment, education and health reforms with particular reference to the outdated and major needs of the National Referral Hospital (NRH)?
Frank Short
www.solomonislandsinfocus.com
