The Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) notes the developments taking place in the current political scenario.
SICCI currently has over 200 members as well as a number of affiliations to other national private sector organisations, covering approximately 80 percent of the Solomon Islands private sector workforce. Sixty (60) percent of the SICCI membership is made up of Small Medium Enterprises employing less than 20 employees.
“We would like to think that political parties and members are exercising maturity that would also help protect Solomon Islands’ reputation in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
“We are unfortunately not favoured due to our relative isolation from markets that we need to trade with. We are also not an advanced country in terms of our systems and laws that impact health, education and social indicators. Really, we are one of the newer countries in the development sense,” SICCI Chair, Mr Jay Bartlett, said.
Mr. Bartlett said the Chamber’s stance on issues of national interest and issues affecting business is therefore always one cognizant of these realities, and especially one that is always looking long term, into the future.
“And we believe that business cannot thrive without economic and political stability.
“We do not condone the violence that results from the current vigorous civic engagement in our democratic system. In some way, this can be regarded as necessary as we progress along the continuum of realising our full potential as a country of diverse ethnicities and inherent cultures,” he said.
“However, we believe that to achieve this vision of a prosperous Solomon Islands, all leaders should exercise their roles with a mind to how political rhetoric impact on popular sentiment which can adversely affect efforts to project Solomon Islands as a favorable place to do business,” the SICCI Chair added.
Press Release: SICCI