NEWS
Tonga and Vanuatu join China’s Belt and Road
Richard Butler| from RNZ | 20 November 2018 Tonga and Vanuatu have signed up to China’s Belt and Road initiative. The announcements came on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Papua New Guinea last week. Tonga’s memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road was...
Chinese President Xi meets with leaders of seven Pacific island countries including Vanuatu
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with President of the Federated States of Micronesia Peter Christian, Port Moresby, PNG, November 16, 2018. /Xinhua Photo Richard Butler | Xinhua | 17 Nov 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the leaders of seven Pacific island...
Australia’s plan to challenge China in the South Pacific
Richard Butler | CNN | 9 Nov 2018 Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands at a news conference at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing Thursday. Dr. John Lee is senior fellow at the Hudson Institute (Washington)...
Vanuatu chooses Stantec to supervise 400-kW Brenwe Hydropower Plant
Richard Butler | HydroWorld.com | 30 Oct 2018 The government of Vanuatu and the Asian Development Bank have chosen Stantec to be design supervision consultant for the Vanuatu Energy Access Project, which includes the 400-kW Brenwe Hydropower Plant. The project, on the...
Malta To Assist Government Of Vanuatu In Forming Blockchain Regulations
Richard Butler | Cointelegraph.com | 10 Oct 2018 The government of Malta has agreed to assist the Republic of Vanuatu in forming blockchain regulations. The Vanuatu Daily Post reported that Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vanuatu, attended Malta’s...
Vanuatu launches new Dept of Climate Change
Vanuatu parliament building in the capital Port Vila. Photo: RNZI/ Walter Zweifel Richard Butler | RNZ News | 25 Sept 2018 The Vanuatu goverment is working towards setting up its first Department of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction. The Daily Post newspaper...
Vanuatu PM hails bilateral ties with China
Vanuatu PM hails bilateral ties with China Richard Butler | Xinhua | 22 Sept 2018 Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai has hailed the island nation's good relationship with China, saying that China-Vanuatu relations will continue to grow from strength to strength....
Even Faster Internet access for Vanuatu
Richard Butler | Loopvanuatu.com | 19 Sept 2018 Submarine Cable owner and operator Interchange Limited has delivered a 42% reduction off the regulated wholesale pricing of the Submarine Cable to Telecom Vanuatu Ltd (TVL) and Digicel (Vanuatu) Ltd as of 1 September...
Vanuatu Aviation Investment Project update for Bauerfield
Richard Butler | Vanuatu Daily Post, Jane Joshua | 26th Aug, 2018The Government and its partners in the Vanuatu Aviation Investment Project (VAIP) are committed to providing regular updates about construction works at the country’s three main airports.At Bauerfield,...
Vanuatu Aviation Investment Project update for Bauerfield
Richard Butler | Daily Post | 27 Aug 2018 The Government and its partners in the Vanuatu Aviation Investment Project (VAIP) are committed to providing regular updates about construction works at the country’s three main airports. At Bauerfield, the contractors China...
Close to 30,000 rural ni-Vanuatu to be migrated to electronic banking
Richard Butler | Pacific Office in Fiji | Aug 23rd 2018 Port Vila, Vanuatu – Addressing low usage, cost of travel and lack of opportunities to transact, the National Bank of Vanuatu (NBV) has announced the migration of close to 30,000 of its rural customers from a...
Vanuatu revenue soars from passport sales
Post by Richard Butler | RNZ | Aug 21st, 2018 Passport sales in Vanuatu have exceeded expectations, bringing in $US16 million in the first quarter of this year, or more than three times what was budgeted Since 2015, the country has offered honorary citizenship to...
Vanuatu passport sales since 2015, the country has offered honorary citizenship to people willing to pay a $US165,000 application fee
Richard Butler | Daily Post | Aug 22th 2018 Passport sales in Vanuatu have exceeded expectations, bringing in $US16 million in the first quarter of this year, or more than three times what was budgeted The figures, first reported by the Daily Post, showed revenue from...
China: Come of age?
Richard Butler | Xinhua | Aug 17th 2018 CHINA finally seems to have completed its coming of age, and now has the power and money to disrupt diplomatic relations around the world. After decades of taking its neighbours for granted, Australia is starting to wake up to...
Top leaders of Vanuatu laud Chinese hospital ship’s visit
Richard Butler | Xinhua | July 28th 2018 SUVA, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Top leaders of Vanuatu, expressed appreciation for a Chinese naval hospital ship's visit, saying it demonstrated the profound friendship between Vanuatu and China. The Chinese naval hospital ship Ark...
US troops to begin aid mission on Vanuatu island
Richard Butler | Stripes.com | July 14th 2018 U.S. troops will conduct humanitarian operations next week on a South Pacific island that, some have speculated, is eyed by China as a potential overseas military base. About 65 U.S. troops will provide humanitarian...
Australia’s Pacific Island Myopia Overreacting to China’s presence in the Pacific Islands is undermining Australia’s image in the region
Richard Butler | Stripes.com | July 14th 2018 This year has seen intense scrutiny of Chinese aid to Pacific island countries by the Australian media. The focus of coverage has been on a range of perceived “threats” emanating from China. These include the leverage...
Vanuatu’s ban on single use plastic comes into effect
Richard Butler | Island Life Mag | July 6th 2018 The Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ralph Regenvanu who pioneered the “No Plastic – Vanuatu” initiative begins his shopping with an environmentally-friendly re-usable ABM shopping bag launched in all outlets this...
The Self-Serving Scramble for the Developing World
Richard Butler | Foreign Policy Journal | July 3rd 2018 The tiny Pacific nation of Vanuatu is only the latest developing nation to fall victim to a highly disturbing trend: regional economic giants—in this case China and Australia—playing out their personal rivalries...
Off the grey list
Richard Butler | Daily Post | July 3rd 2018 In a plenary session ending Friday last week, the Financial Action Task Force formally removed Vanuatu from the list of ‘high risk jurisdictions’. The FATF is a global organisation mandated to rein in money laundering and...
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbul has announced that Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas, will visit Australia from 23 to 29 June
Richard Butler | PNG News | June 21st 2018 Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbul has announced that Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas, will visit Australia from 23 to 29 June. “Australia enjoys a close relationship with Vanuatu, with our two nations...
