The Government indicated its intention to proceed with divesting its ownership in Solomons Telekom within the next couple of months, and the possibility of allowing new entrants. The review has shown very clearly the serious difficulties faced by the Solomon Islands, as a small, least-developed, island economy with a limited resource base. We have also had a substantial discussion on the vulnerability of an undiversified economy to both commodity booms and external shocks. We hope that the signals given by Members will help the Solomon Islands in establishing a more viable economic base. One issue of overwhelming importance is the creation of a stable environment for future trade and investment, with minimal scope for discretion.
Tariff reforms have already begun and, again, a stable basis for trade is crucial.
The present Government has underlined its commitment to economic reforms and the Trade Policy Review Body has given its strong encouragement to the process. We hope that the Solomon Islands Government will, as a follow-up to this review, be able to benefit from the technical cooperation opportunities that are being offered to it and will thereby be able to participate more effectively in the WTO Agreements and benefit from the multilateral system. We wish the Solomon Islands well in coping with the present difficulties and promoting its economic recovery and future development.