Chamber News

Business News, Friday 7th August 2020

Dear members, After our week of Independence celebrations VCCI has been working hard to prepare for several exciting activities next week. Please read below about our upcoming activities in Luganville and Port Vila, and enjoy the latest news on the travel bubble, announced by Minister Bule in today’s Daily Post. VCCI: Santo Workshop Next Week Next Tuesday afternoon in Luganville VCCI is hosting a free half day workshop for our Santo based business community focusing on “Dealing with Change and Unknowns – How to manouvre, negotiate and ‘get through’ the current times” lead by Jinny Ruben, our Business and Life Coach and qualified occupational therapist. To register for the free workshop on Tuesday afternoon please email support@vcci.vu with your name and contact number. Port Vila…

Vanuatu Economic Recovery Forum

The Minister of Finance has invited the private sector, businesses, farmers, marketers, and general public to attend an Economic Recovery Post Covid-19/TC Harold Forum on Wednesday 29 July, 2020. Venue: Vanuatu Convention Centre Date & Time: 29th July, 9am-12 noon Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) representatives will be attending this forum, however it being a Government declared public holiday and being the day prior to Independence attendance from the general public for the event may not be optimal. For this reason, the Chamber has written to the Minister of Finance sharing some suggestions to consider and wanted to share them below with the public. The Chamber has also made a formal request for key sector consultations be organized for after the Independence celebrations,…

A message from VCCI’s newly elected President, Mr. Antoine Boudier

It is with great pleasure that I can now share with you that I have accepted the role of President of the VCCI Council. It is also with great pleasure that I can announce I am joined by James Roy Matariki who will be working alongside me as VCCI’s 1st Vice President for the next 2 years, joined by David Russet at 2nd Vice President. The Council is also joined by Julia Johnstone as Air Transport representative, and we welcome back Julia King for another term as Women’s Group representative and David Russet as our Agriculture representative. Many of you may know me from my roles on various boards and associations. For those of you who do not, I was born here in Vanuatu, and…

Business News, Friday 17 July 2020

Dear members, Announcement on business closures to commemorate 40th Anniversary Celebrations We refer to the recent announcement by the Honorable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs that all business houses to be closed to commemorate the 40th Anniversary Celebrations from 23rd to 31st July 2020. We would like to assure our business members that we are working hard behind the scenes on this matter, seeking clarification on the legality of the notice, as well as the conflicting instructions of the directive and will keep you updated accordingly. We recognize that this is distressing to those of you affected and want to reiterate our strong stance behind you at this time. As a preparatory measure we do encourage you to write a letter to…

SME GRANT UPDATE – VCCI Team in Tanna and Malekula from Monday, 20 July 2020

Business Support heading to Tanna and Malekula VCCI staff will be in Lenakel (Tanna) and Lakatoro (Malekula) from Monday 20 July for one week to support businesses that wish to apply for the SME Grant. If you are a Tanna or Malekula business and have access to the internet now, we encourage you to familiarise yourself with the documents at this link: https://vcci.vu/just-announced-sme-grant-for-business-license-holders/ so you are able to prepare the documents required. Information on this trip will be communicated via VCCI Facebook or can be obtained by calling 27543. Please spread the word.

VCCI Employment Stabilization Payment (ESP) Survey Results

The Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI) received in total 167 completed surveys from business members on the Employment Stabilization Payment and we would like to share the summarized findings with you in the presentation attached. Click here to download the presentation In essence there are several key findings we would like the Government to be aware of: Over 60% of eligible businesses are yet to receive April payments. This percentage increases for May and June. As the Employment Stabilization Payment was designed to support employees to remain in paid employment during the COVID-19 crisis period it is becoming increasingly more difficult for businesses to be able to pay their staff while waiting for the promised support. 42% of businesses that have applied for…

What is Business & Life Coaching?

At VCCI we have recognised that times are really tough for business owners at the moment. In response to this we are extending the support we can offer to some of our members. One of these services is Business & Life Coaching. We have engaged local consultant Jinny Ruben to provide this service. Jinny, is a proud kiwi, married to a Ni-Vanuatu for over 20 years and mum to 4 gorgeous children. She is a life and business coach and Qualified Occupational Therapist. Jinny has called Vanuatu home for over 16 years and is comfortable working in English and Bislama. Her business experience spans over 20 years and includes a wide and vibrant range of businesses that she has owned and operated and/or worked in. …

LEADING THE WAY GLOBALLY – The Vanuatu Business Resilience Council Partners With OXFAM To Implement Their Unblocked Cash Response In Vanuatu

The compounding impacts of COVID-19 restrictions and Tropical Cyclone Harold in Vanuatu, spanning from March until today has resulted in a significant reduction in income and livelihoods across Vanuatu, particularly amongst households with pre-existing vulnerabilities. In order to address the needs of our people Oxfam in Vanuatu is planning to deploy a large-scale cash transfer response, and as winners of international recognition on innovation Oxfam is implementing their proven approach for humanitarian response/emergency recovery here in Vanuatu – an Unblocked Cash response. What is Unblocked Cash? This solution focuses on the distribution of support via goods and services to those most vulnerable as a result of the COVID-19 and TC Harold compounding crises. Rather than receiving funds in the form of cash or food supplies,…

Upcoming Workshop open to all!

Dealing with Change and Unknowns – How to Manoeuvre, negotiate and ‘get through’ the current times VCCI is facilitating this half day workshop for our business license holders on 7 June from 9am here at the Chamber conference room. The workshop will provide participants with practical tools to navigate change and unknowns. It includes tips on negotiation skills – how to effectively negotiate in the current climate and aims to support clients to being more equipped to survive and thrive through challenges that are faced and to gain a greater sense of community and unity in the current climate through shared experiences. For enrolment please email reception@vcci.vu or call Maxi on 27543. Places will be limited so please do not delay! Expressions of Interest…

Business News

Dear members, we have a lot of good news, information and opportunities to share with you today, including the results of our Council member elections from Tuesday night’s VCCI Annual General Meeting. Keep reading below… VCCI Council Election Results We would like to thank everyone who came along last night to the VCCI AGM held in Port Vila, and to especially thank the wonderful candidates who put themselves forward for consideration to join the VCCI Council for 2020. We were delighted to have so many business people in the room, over 110 by our count. A big congratulations to the following successful business representatives, all whom have a wealth of knowledge, experience and passion to represent their industry sector on the VCCI Council: New Council…

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