Niue private sector appreciates inclusion in consultations

Niue private sector appreciates inclusion in consultations

Alofi, Niue, 1st June 2011 - The Niue Chamber of Commerce appreciates its inclusion as the representative of the private sector in the peer review consultations into the Government of Niue budget and planning processes, and development coordination underway in the country this week.

The Niue Government, which volunteered to undergo the peer review under the Forum Compact for Strengthening Development Coordination, invited a representative of the governments of Nauru and Samoa representing Forum island countries and a representative of AusAid representing the development partners to be included in the Niue Peer Review Team.

“We thank the government of Niue for recognizing the Chamber as a representative of the private sector in this country and including us in the peer review as it is important that our members are kept in the loop on what development assistance is coming into the country,” Avi Rubin, President of the Niue Chamber of Commerce told the peer review team.

“The Chamber believes there is an urgent need for the establishment of an aid coordination unit within the appropriate Government department to coordinate all the development assistance that is coming into Niue as the private sector does not want its members to miss out on any assistance that is intended for the private sector in the country,” Mr Rubin said.

The private sector is currently represented on the board of several government bodies including the Niue Development Bank Board, the Tourism Board and the Broadcasting Board.

“The Chamber thanks the Niue Government for this but it seems that there is no high level dialogue between the private sector and the government especially on the flow of development assistance into Niue," said Mr Rubin.

Mr Rubin revealed during the meeting with the Niue Peer Review team that the Chamber is to soon employ a business development manager funded by New Zealand to assist members of the Chamber to rehabilitate current businesses and create new business in Niue.

During its earlier discussions with the Government departments, the Niue Peer Review team was informed that plans are underway to establish an aid coordination unit, a role which is currently performed by the External Affairs Department.

ENDS