SAMOA BECOMES THIRD COUNTRY TO BENEFIT FROM PACIFIC ISLANDS BUSINESS MENTORING PROGRAMME

The new Pacific Islands Business Mentoring Programme has been launched in Samoa. Five volunteer mentors from Business Mentors New Zealand (BMNZ) landed in the country on Monday.

Samoa is one of 11 Pacific island countries to be included in the BMNZ managed project over the next three years with funding provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Samoa is the third country to have welcomed the initiative. The first two recipients were the Cook Islands in May and Tonga in June.

The programme aims to assist small and medium sized businesses in the Pacific to manage and grow their businesses in a way that supports sustained increases in production and employment over time. It is hoped the programme will be a catalyst for identifying other business needs such as training, and create opportunities for partnerships and joint ventures, and increased Pacific exports, including to New Zealand.

Litia Brighouse, Executive Officer at the Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the BMNZ agent for the scheme, says: `The economy in Samoa is slowly picking up, after the impact of the global recession, but it will take a while for business confidence levels and productivity to return to the levels they were at. Sitting down with an experienced NZ mentor will help our business owners spot weaknesses and opportunities for growth that they may not have considered before. It will also enable them to widen their skill sets so that they can get through these more difficult times and move forwards, in a positive direction.’

Ian Furlong, Pacific Manager at Business Mentors, adds: ‘The things that Samoan business owners need assistance with are quite similar to elsewhere in the Pacific Islands. Human resources, business planning, use of financial information and I.T are all areas that many would appreciate some help and guidance around.

'We’ve had a fantastic response from local businesses in Samoa and have received applications from a very diverse cross section of industries,’ adds Ian. ‘As well as the positive response from business owners, there has also been strong government support, especially from Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Misa Telefoni Retzlaff. It has been really encouraging to see them put their full weight behind promoting the initiative and making sure that company owners are made aware of the benefits of mentoring.’

Prime Minister John Key announced the development of the new Pacific Business Mentoring Programme last year to provide practical support for Pacific businesses, explaining: ‘Many of the Pacific business people I have met recently have told me how useful it would be for them to have greater access to business advice and mentoring from New Zealand.’