The Samoa Chamber of Commerce held its October Members Meeting on Monday 16^th October 2023 at the Taumeasina Island Resort Conference Room. The Members Meeting, sponsored by Samoa Surety Finance Ltd, was chaired by SCCI President Seulupe Michelle Macdonald. The Secretariat update to its members was provided by SCCI CEO Lita Lui, focusing on private sector issues raised over the last month as well as upcoming events and opportunities for the private sector.

The meeting was closed with presentations on the background of Samoa Surety by General Manager Peter McPherson and Parametric Insurance Solutions by UNCDF Representative Praneel Pritesh. The Pacific Insurance and Climate Change Adaptation Programme objective is to improve the financial preparedness and resilience of PSIDS towards climate change and natural hazards. Mr. Pritesh presented the Parametric Insurance Solutions Samoa, a Cyclone Product offered by Samoa Surety and its structure and cover duration; the new product is currently also being offered in Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu and was of great interest to members who attended the meeting. This product will operate on a Markets systems approach to develop climate risk financing and insurance solutions targeting small businesses and the most vulnerable groups.

SCCI extend its gratitude to Peter McPherson, Aloalii John Lowe and the staff of the Samoa Surety Finance Ltd for their hospitality in hosting its members meeting. Chamber welcomed two new members to its membership since its last members meeting in September 2023. The meeting was followed by a networking session.

29 November 2022 – The Samoa Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the United Nations Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption (UN-PRAC) project, officially launched its Toolkit on Anti-Corruption for Women-Owned Businesses in Salelologa and Fagamalo, Savaii on November 22-23 and in Apia, Upolu on November 25.

The toolkit was an activity conducted by the Samoa Chamber of Commerce, in its efforts to raise awareness and promote businessintegrity in the private sector with a focus on women entrepreneurs. The toolkit was launched alongside the delivery of three workshops on anti-corruption for women entrepreneurs, held in Savaii and Upolu. The guide aims to assist business owners on how to protect their businesses against corruption, methods to detect and prevent acts of corruption, knowledge of the regulations and laws in Samoa, and which relevant Government ministries and agencies to approach for assistance.

These anti-corruption workshops were tailored for Samoan women business owners and women interested in addressing corruption risks in their own communities. Through these workshops, Samoan women entrepreneurs were able to share their experiences in strengthening internal business
control mechanisms, ethics and compliance in women-owned/managed businesses.

“As the National Private Sector Organization in Samoa, we want to lead by example and provide awareness and support for women entrepreneurs on how to protect their businesses from corruption. The dialogue exchanged at these workshops is very important so we can understand the challenges
faced by businesses and work together to find solutions,” said Lote Lima, Member Services Manager Samoa Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Women’s empowerment and gender equality, including efforts to prevent corruption and promote business integrity in the Pacific, are vital to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. This ongoing initiative in Samoa is part of UNDP’s strong commitment to making gender equality a reality in the Pacific. This workshop is part of a series of integrity-strengthening efforts offering advice on how to protect businesses from corrupt practices that women entrepreneurs identified they were confronted with. Corruption can have a devastating impact on local businesses, particularly as businesses emerge from the challenges of COVID-19,” said Christina Mualia, Assistant Resident Representative – Governance and Poverty Reduction Unit, UNDP.

During the workshops, participants shared their challenges and experiences in detecting and addressing acts of corruption within their communities and business operations and discussed potential solutions. The workshop in Apia featured a panel session that included Osana Liki-Ward,
Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Public Service Commission and Maiava Eneleata Samau, Compliance Manager of FEXCO Samoa, who presented on anti-corruption measures set in place in the public and private sectors. This gave participants an opportunity to understand the regulations and laws in place in Samoa that address corruption and why it is vital to safeguard business operations from corruption.

These workshops are part of the Chamber’s work around anti-corruption, to raise awareness on corruption in the private sector. A total of eight workshops have been conducted since July 2021. The toolkit on Anti-corruption for Women-Owned Businesses is now available at the Samoa Chamber of Commerce’s office.

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Apia, Samoa – On Tuesday 8th and Thursday 10th November, the Samoa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) conducted a series of Capacity Building Workshops, targeting pivotal civil-society organisations (CSOs) in the waste management sector, in their capacities as both waste generators as well as enabler of waste recycling and recovery.

The workshop, conducted through the Circular Economy for the Recovery of (CERO) Waste Programme, included representatives from Samoa’s two prominent waste management associations, the Samoa Recycling and Waste Management Association (SWRMA) and the Samoa and Tokelau Association of Recyclers (S.T.A.R.), as well as representatives from key industry associations, the Samoa Association of Manufacturers and Exporters (SAME), Samoa Qualifications Authority (SQA), and the Samoa Hotels and Hospitality Association (SHHA).

The participants were able to absorb the expert knowledge and advice from SCCI on understanding the donor world, budgeting and cash flow, compliance, due diligence, donor grant management, accounting issues and donor reporting. The first training session provided participants with a holistic overview of the donor world, allowing CSOs to better understand the process of accessing funding and improve their skills in submitting applications for grants. The second training session provided a more in-depth understanding of grant management and donor reporting. This session was targeted for CSOs management level staff
and executive members and covered writing grant proposals, submitting applications for funding, and the importance of compliance towards funding agreements.

“The biggest challenge CSOs face is they find it very difficult to understand the donor world and compliance, this workshop is about bridging that gap to help our CSOs understand those challenges and better access those grant opportunities,” said SCCI CEO Lemauga Hobart Vaai.
One of the participants, Joyce Teo, representing SWRMA said, “As a youth activist, I am honored to be part of this [training] and thankful for the opportunity to learn new things that expose me to practical skills development for project management. This experience will no doubt enhance my future career progression and importantly allow me to contribute more to my role at SWRMA”.

In addition, SWRMA President Marina Keil spoke about the impact this capacity building training will have on their organization moving forward, “The training today was very useful. We learnt a lot of things that can help us with our organisation in terms of writing a successful proposal as well as being transparent in our work, in terms of reporting and expenditure. I hope to use the lessons today and implement it on a daily basis for the association so that we can help build the association to be more successful in the future,”.

Hans Wesche of S.T.A.R., who attended both trainings, also shared how these Grant Management trainings would benefit S.T.A.R.’s future operations, “What I’ve learnt is the importance of compliance and that compliance cannot be bent. We have to stick by what the donors want and I think that’s what everyone needs to go by. I would also like to extend appreciation to UNDP and SCCI. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to participate this week, thank you”.

The workshops concluded with UNDP Assistant Resident Representative, Lepale Aussie Simanu, providing his closing remarks, stating “First of all, on behalf of UNDP, I congratulate all participants of both workshops for their proactive engagement and successful completion of the two CSO Grant Management trainings. CSOs are the engines of sustainable development which means it is crucial that they are supported through capacity building to ensure entities have the necessary grant management skills to comply with the oftentimes complex and diverse donor requirements. UNDP encourages participants to apply and proactively pass down the knowledge attained to build accountable, dynamic and compliant
teams that share a culture of good practice in donor engagement and grant management.

It is also important to acknowledge the gender diversity witnessed across the two days, particularly in light of a traditionally male-dominant waste management sector, therefore UNDP commends the women in leadership present today and the active engagement of youth across the organisations who are not only driving Samoa’s circular economy but paving the way for gender equality and equity in waste management.”

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31 October 2022 – Through the generous support of the British High Commission Apia,
the Samoa Chamber of Commerce (SCCI) in partnership with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) hosted a graduation ceremony in honor of the ten (10)
youth entrepreneurs that completed the 8-week Youth Co:Lab Internship Programme from
the 23rd August to the 18th October 2022.

This program served as a supplementary business support initiative for youth
entrepreneurs that participated in the latest Youth Co:Lab Samoa National Dialogue 2022,
an incubator program that aims to empower and equip young people to operate startup
businesses of their own.

“This is the first time we have added an internship component to the Youth Co:Lab
programme, for young entrepreneurs to gain work experience and an insight in the
operations and standards of a work placement that can help your capacity growth for your
own business,” said Ms. Lote Lima, Memberservices Manager of the Samoa Chamber of
Commerce.

“The Samoa Chamber of Commerce has long strived to ensure its services and programs
benefit not only the private sector in Samoa, but also Samoa’s young aspiring
entrepreneurs. Over the years, we have seen a great increase in interest in the Youth
Co:Lab programme since its first in 2018. This has indicated that more and more youth are
now focusing on building their own businesses that can help address social issues, help
communities and enhance technology development,” said Ms. Lima.

These youths that took up this opportunity have entrepreneurial interests and startups in
varying sectors including: elei and t-shirt printing, handcrafted adornments, cake baking,
social media marketing, online retail, and recycling. As early stage entrepreneurs, each of
the youth participants were excited for mentorship from industry experts to build their
capacity on operating a local business. Prior to the start of the program, the Samoa
Chamber of Commerce ran a soft-skills training to best prepare the youth interns for their
work placements.

We acknowledge the support of our private sector partners – Radio Polynesia, Digicel
Samoa, KEW Consult, EnCode Software Solutions, Onelook Studio, Samoa Institute of
Directors, Geeking Up Samoa and the Development Bank of Samoa Savaii for serving as
work placements for the youth interns. Under the leadership and guidance of these
organizations, the interns have shared improved skills in bookkeeping and accounting
software, website development, digital literacy, cloud-based software and systems,
communication and marketing strategies, product testing and research, customer service
and more.
The Keynote Address was given by His Excellency Mr. David Ward, British High
Commissioner to Samoa, who echoed Ms. Lima’s words of congratulations and encouraged
the next phase of the graduates’ entrepreneurial journey with a challenge for themselves
and for a better Samoa,

“And so I want to say to those who are graduating today from this 8-week program is to be
ambitious, for if you do not do this then the chances for progress for Samoa, the chances for
a better life for those around you, are less than they would be if you do not use what you
have learned. Take a risk, be ambitious and work for yourselves and for Samoa,” said HE
David Ward.

“If you can achieve that, I would be delighted and the people of Samoa will be one step
closer to achieving the [Sustainable Development Goals] and one step closer to a richer,
safer, securer society that they all want to live in.”

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