Chamber of Commerce

Lui takes over from former CEO, Lemauga Hobart Vaai, who resigned to move overseas in late January 2023.

The newly appointed CEO was officially introduced to Chamber members at their meeting held on 6 March 2023.

Lui is a former ACEO for the Aid Coordination and Debt Management division under the Ministry of Finance and has served the Government for over 19 years.

With her high calibre and vast experience in the public service, Lui’s appointment will look to further foster the Public-Private Partnership.

Now the Samoan Chamber of Commerce is working overtime to repair the damage done to business confidence, following the bombshell announcement.

The chamber’s CEO Hobart Vaai said the move caught the community by surprise.

“Our local business community are very upset at the decision given Vailima's iconic place in our history,” he said.

“It's been our main brewery for a very long time and it’s something that has close affiliation to Samoa. It is marketed as being Samoa-made and the fact it's moving to Fiji has caused a lot of people to be upset.”

The meeting was coordinated and facilitated by the Samoa Chamber of Commerce and Industry under a request from Cabinet.

Representatives from Swire Shipping, Betham Brothers Enterprises Ltd (BBE), Transam, Pacific Forum Line (PFL), Petroleum Petrol Supplies (PPS) and Matson International met with the Ministry of Health last week to work towards a solution to ensure Samoa achieves a balance of protecting her boarders against the Coronavirus (COVID-19), while maintaining trade and more particularly essential supplies into the country such as food, petrol and others.

Next week's meeting comes a month before the next federally-mandated 50-cent wage hike comes into effect.

The two canneries, the Chamber of Commerce and Cabinet Director as well as the Legislature have all been invited to attend.

The canneries and the Chamber oppose the wage increase.

Lolo earlier said he wants to see a wage hike, but his administration is still concerned about the impact on the fish canneries, which are the territory's largest private employers.