The Niue Chamber of Commerce has announced a new partnership with the Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access Plus (PHAMA Plus) Program to help unlock growth opportunities for the Niuean private sector, particularly agribusinesses.

The Australia and New Zealand supported collaboration will see grant support to three local women-led enterprises that are part of the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a cohort of Niue entrepreneurial women under the Chamber. The grants aim to assist with business development and technical expertise for domestic and international trade.

President of the Niue Chamber of Commerce, Sefeti Fatiaki Adriana was pleased to sign a Letter of Agreement with PHAMA Plus on Wednesday 7 December 2022, stating: “This is the first step in growing what will be a vital partnership to progress and strengthen businesses in Niue, especially those in the export sector.”

The private sector is a key driver of economic development in Niue, attracting investment, creating employment opportunities, and contributing to economic growth. Relatively small in size, Niue’s private sector comprise small-scale farmers and traders, through to larger businesses which may have growth and export potential.

The CEO of the Niue Chamber of Commerce Catherine Etuata Papani, is excited that through this agreement, PHAMA Plus will also provide support towards upgrading data collection and analytical capacity. This will support the Niue Chamber of Commerce to better capture business profiles and baseline data to inform policymaking and improve member services.   

“Women are predominantly engaged in smaller businesses such as handicrafts, food processing and hospitality in Niue. Under our collaboration with the Niue Chamber of Commerce, we hope that more women entrepreneurs harness opportunities that will contribute towards an equitable and inclusive economic growth and recovery post COVID-19,” said PHAMA Plus Program Manager Small Islands States, Sangita Kumar.   

PHAMA Plus works with the Government of Niue and stakeholders to establish and adopt certification and quality standards, such as for food safety and organic certification to strengthen market access opportunities through improved compliance. This will in turn allow exporters in Niue to maintain existing market access and gain access to new export market destinations for their products.

PHAMA Plus currently delivers similar trade facilitation activities for the agricultural sectors in Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu, as well as other Small Islands States signatories to the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER Plus) – Cook Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu.

For more information, please reach out to PHAMA Plus Program Manager Small Island States Sangita Kumar on s.kumar@phamaplus.com.au