BY NED GAGAHE
Building a productive economy that creates jobs, supports local businesses and lowers the cost of living is a key pillar of the GREAT Coalition Government Policy launched by Prime Minister Matthew Wale yesterday.
Speaking at the launch at Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara, Wale said Solomon Islands must move beyond exporting raw materials and instead create more value from its own resources.
“Our objective is not merely to expand the economy. Our objective is to broaden participation in the economy,” he said.
As part of that goal, the government will introduce a Local Content Protection Policy, reserving government contracts valued below SBD50 million for indigenous Solomon Islands businesses.
Wale said the policy is designed to empower local enterprises, create jobs, build technical expertise and retain more wealth within the country.
“This is not a policy of exclusion. It is a policy of empowerment,” he said.
The government also aims to reduce the cost of doing business by progressively lowering electricity tariffs to about 15 US cents per kilowatt-hour, while improving the efficiency of essential services, including water, ports, telecommunications and financial services.
Wale said affordable electricity and lower operating costs will boost investment, improve business competitiveness and ease the burden on households.
The policy also prioritises agriculture, fisheries, tourism, manufacturing and the digital economy as key drivers of growth.
In agriculture, the government plans to strengthen research, improve market access and encourage downstream processing of crops such as cocoa, coconut and kava.
In the fisheries sector, it aims to progressively achieve 100 per cent onshore tuna processing through the development of the Bina Harbour Industrial and Fisheries Project to ensure more value from the country’s tuna industry remains in Solomon Islands.
Wale said the government’s ambition is to build a competitive and inclusive economy where indigenous Solomon Islanders increasingly become business owners, investors, producers and exporters, creating greater opportunities across the country.
Photo credit: Ned Gagahe
For feedback, contact: [email protected]
Editor: [email protected]
