A team from the World Bank Group is currently visiting Solomon Islands to discuss potential sources of economic growth for the country.

These discussions are in response to a request for technical advice from the Solomon Islands government in June, 2008 to help support the government in identifying and analyzing alternative sources of economic growth for the country.

The World Bank Group has worked on the sources of growth research for six months. This has required extensive analysis of potential sources of income for the country in the wake of declining logging revenues, now accelerated by the Global Financial Crisis.

The team has assessed the economic potential of a number of leading enterprises, including: mining, plantation agriculture, tourism, palm oil, plantation forestry and fisheries.

At a meeting convened by the CBSI this week, the team met with the Minister of Finance, Hon. Snyder Rini, the Minister for Planning, Hon. Steve Abana, the Minister for Rural Development, Hon. Fred Fono, other officials and members of Solomon Islands business community to discuss their findings and look at the potential contribution of these leading enterprises to government revenue, export earnings and employment generation.

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