Building capacity for independent research and policy development
Pacific Forum is commentary, analysis, insights and thought leadership on financial and economic policymaking related issues, focusing primarily on the Pacific Island Countries (PICs). These include commentaries on research working papers authored jointly by Griffith University and its MoU South Pacific central bank partners—PNG, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Timor Leste. The Forum aims to explore relevant issues with a “research” lens and thereby encourage and facilitate discussion and debate among policymakers, academics and others in the region.
The views expressed on the Forum are those of the individual authors and don not represent the views of SPCCB or the institutions to which the authors are attached.
Pacific Forum is run by:
- Parmendra Sharma SPCCB Program convenor
- Tarlok Singh, SPCCB Leader-Policy
- Jen-Je Su, SPCCB Leader-Research
For more about SPCCB, visit our home page.
If you are interested in writing for the Pacific Forum, please send your 800-1000 word article covering the relevant scope to
Battling COVID-19 amid dwindling government finances: An update from the Solomon Islands
1 October 2020 | Jack Boe
In April this year, scores of public servants, those considered nonessential, were briefly put out of work. Although they have now been reinstated, their ministries’ budgets remain expurgated and workplans shelved. Many are content ...
Good neighbours? Supporting countries of the Pacific in meeting COVID-19 challenges
28 September 2020 | Tess Newton Cain
COVID-19 and its attendant health and economic impacts have left no part of the world untouched. As the year has progressed, bilateral and multilateral relationships, especially with Australia, have played a very significant part in how Pacific ...
Keeping SMEs afloat during COVID-19: How are the PICs responding?
16 September 2020 | Lan Nguyen
As soon as one starts talking about economic development or “recovery”, as is the case in the current environment, the private sector comes immediately to the forefront; where it does not for some reason, it is surely lurking in the...
As the pandemic ravages global economies, how are things going in the PICs?
9 September 2020 | Tong Tong
The effects of COVID-19 on global economies is described very well in just one word—one which now has become synonymous with the pandemic—“unprecedented”! In the OECD area, the average fall in real gross domestic ...
Responding to the economic fall-out of COVID-19 in Pacific island countries
2 September 2020 | Denton Rarawa
The COVID-19 pandemic is creating havoc in Pacific island countries (PICs). Within eight months, countries in the region have seen their economies nose-dive to negative growth rates. It will take a long time before PICs fully recover ...
Cash-“less”, cash-“more” or…? How the pandemic is affecting trends in the PICs
26 August 2020 | Parmendra Sharma
In recent times, there has been a global “push” or trend otherwise, led largely by the new generation to go more and more cash “less” You don’t even need a card to complete transactions—a mobile phone with the right apps is all ...
Envisioning a Pacific labour market
24 August | James Cox
COVID-19 has demonstrated the central part that connection plays in our lives. We have experienced what can be achieved when people work together and what is lost when they can’t, or won’t. Some connections have been ...
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Pacific Outlook
February 25, 2021
How are businesses in the Pacific really doing?
The COVID-19 global pandemic and accompanying economic crisis continues to create compounded challenges for the Pacific private sector. With closed international borders, interrupted trade routes and ...
February 23, 2021
Weekly Pacific Bulletin | 24 February
Vanuatu announces the opening of a ‘Tamtam bubble’ The Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Hon Bob Loughman, has announced the opening of a ‘Tamtam bubble’. Starting in April, there will be an easing of restri...
February 16, 2021
Weekly Pacific Bulletin | 17 February
Samoa steps up on regional ructions The Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, has spoken publicly on two issues that touch on regionalism and regional unity. As one of the longe...
February 16, 2021
With five countries set to quit, is it curtains for the Pacific Islands Forum?
It has been a bruising couple of weeks for the Pacific Islands Forum after five Micronesian countries announced they were leaving the region’s key intergovernmental body. But rumours of...
February 15, 2021
Regionalism in Retreat
Prophesies of the end of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) as we know it are close to being fulfilled after a virtual and very tense leaders’ meeting last week. The difficulties of this awkward format, ...
February 11, 2021
The Torres Strait Treaty, a journey of Islander autonomy
“We are happy to share what we have in the Torres Strait, but we will not give – not a teaspoon of water, not a grain of sand.” This was the war cry of Torres Strait Islander Getano ...
February 09, 2021
Weekly Pacific Bulletin | 10 February
Micronesian countries announce their intention to leave the Pacific Islands Forum Further to the decision to appoint Henry Puna as Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum, the Micronesian Presi...
February 03, 2021
Cairns charts course for major Pacific hub status
Shipyards in the port city of Cairns in far-north Queensland are set to boom, with hundreds of millions of dollars projected to be spent on naval infrastructure, all with a view to making the town a m...
February 02, 2021
Weekly Pacific Bulletin | 3 February
Cyclones menace the region Barely a month since the passage of TC Yasa, Fiji has been pummelled by TC Ana which developed into a category two system as it crossed the country. There was extensive floo...