Samoa Chamber of Commerce

CEO, Lemauga Hobart Va’ai said the submission will reference the recently completed Business Confidence Survey 2020.

He made the comment at a special presentation by the Ministry of Finance.

It was the first members meeting of the chamber of commerce, this year.

Two-day trainings each were held last week – in Upolu on June 8-9 at the SSAB Conference room, and in Savaii on June 11-12 at the Jetover Hotel Conference room.

The Internship Programme is an ongoing initiative that places unemployed youth in work placements for eight weeks.

The aim is to expose youths to a real work environment to acquire knowledge and skills through practical work experience, and allow them to explore a career interest, and build confidence. This is the fifth intake of the programme since it began in 2016.

The President of the Samoa Chamber of Commerce, Jennifer Ula Fruean, has written to the Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, requesting government assistance for over 430 businesses.

This includes three large private sector organisations

Ms Furean said loss of revenue and disruptions to cash flow is severely impacting to businesses as a result of the emergency measures in place in the country to counter the spread of the coronavirus.

The workshop is being delivered in partnership with the Samoa Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc.

The chamber's president, Jennifer Ula Fruean, has written to the government after an extra day's holiday was announced for Independence Day celebrations this year.

She said 14 days public holiday would have "grave impacts on all businesses" including cash flow challenges due to suddenly removing a trading day.

The chamber said in the government's published list of holidays, 11 days were planned this year which was on a par with neighbouring countries.

RNZ reports the automotive component manufacturer, Yazaki, announced this week it will shut down at the end of next year, putting up to 740 people out of work.

The company said the closure is due to the car manufacturing industry in Australia winding down.

The Chamber's CEO, Hobart Vaai, said they are working with Yazaki, and government and private sector partners to minimise the impact the closure will have on the country's economy.

"It's shocking but you know, we're just staying positive," he said.