Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Australia, an agency of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, has launched its 2021 Annual Report.
The report highlights more than A$27 million in export deals and a record 17 investment deals facilitated in the region, despite the challenging environment.
In 2021, PTI Australia continued to build work with businesses in Papua New Guinea, promoting trade, tourism, and investment opportunities in the wake of COVID-19. Through its services, PTI Australia facilitated A$4,111,240 in exports and worked with 187 businesses.
PTI Australia’s Trade and Investment Commissioner, Caleb Jarvis, noted the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the Pacific, and the organisation’s work to continue supporting the private sector through and beyond the crisis.
“Across the Blue Pacific, many nations felt the devastating health impacts of the pandemic for the first time in 2021, demonstrating incredible resilience in their response to the crisis. Despite an arduous environment of severe trade and investment constraints, we were able to support 975 businesses across 16 Pacific nations during this period,” said Mr Jarvis.
“In PNG, we connected a number of PNG-based businesses to potential buyers and distributors in Australia, including a bilum exporter to an Australia-based buyer, a vanilla extract exporter to a Melbourne-based importer, and a coffee bean exporter to an Australian-based buyer.
“In addition to these services, we continued to support manufacturers, sponsor partners events, and run multiple high-value digital workshops.”
He acknowledged his team’s agility and innovation, and collaboration with PTI partners as key to delivering these results.
“I am proud of the flexibility and determination demonstrated by the PTI Australia team, who continued to approach the year dynamically, remaining immeasurably adaptable as many of our trade and investment. Tourism and labour mobility programs shifted between physical, virtual and hybrid formats as Australia and the Blue Pacific moved in and out of various lockdowns,” said Mr Javis.
These results could not be achieved alone, however they acknowledge the important role the global PTI Network and partners play in amplifying our reach and the effectiveness of our work in the Pacific.
“Collaborating with our global PTI network and 27 partners allowed us to deliver $27.14 million in exports and $14.66 million in investments across the year.
Investing in and accelerating regional digital development and capacity building has also played a significant part in the agency’s work said Jarvis.
“2021 saw us continue to invest in regional digital development, to support businesses across the Blue Pacific to navigate the new conditions brought about by the pandemic.
“Throughout the year, we delivered 38 online workshops to help Pacific businesses participate more in the digital economy, launched our PTI Australia x Canva Digital Design Program, a first in the region, and refined our e-Commerce connector series.”
“Understanding the realities for the Pacific’s private sector has also been essential during this period, and through the PTI Network’s regular PTI Pacific Business Monitor survey series we have been able to ensure nations, agencies and partners were kept informed with data, while also utilising these same insights to inform the design of much of our own work.”
Looking ahead, Jarvis reinforced the agency’s commitment to supporting Pacific businesses and the communities that rely on them.
“We remain committed to working with our partners to chart a path to economic recovery, creating tangible outcomes for the businesses and people of the Blue Pacific, as we continually pursue the Pacific Islands Forum’s vision of a bright and prosperous future for all Pacific peoples.”
