Insight on impact
THE PTI Pacific Business Monitor is a regular survey of the Pacific private sector designed to understand and track the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on businesses in the Pacific, and provide governments, donors, regional organisations and media with valuable quantitative data.
Across the nine reports conducted in 2020, business owners and leaders in Niue provided the most consistent and robust responses out of all the Pacific countries.
This resulted in six national focus reports throughout the year and the Pacific Business Monitor 2020: Niue Focus report (Niue Focus 2020 report), aggregating all the year’s data, was released earlier this month.
The Niue Focus 2020 report provides insight into the impact of COVID-19 on Niue’s private sector last year and comparisons with businesses in the Pacific region generally.
Catherine E. Papani, Acting Business Development Manager and CEO of Niue Chamber of Commerce, said the Pacific Business Monitor surveys had been integral to their strategic planning.
“The regular survey series by PTI has given the chamber quantitative data on how businesses are doing and has also ensured that our voice is heard at a regional, interregional and international level, which is really important.
We are a small chamber and don’t have the resources and capability to run a survey like the PTI Pacific Business Monitor.
Being part of PTI’s survey has been so valuable for us and our members, saving us time and resources as we continue to advocate for our members and Niue’s private sector.
The data and insights have been crucial, providing a platform for the chamber to negotiate and work with the Government of Niue, supporting the continuation of the government’s Interim Business Support (which provides) financial assistance to business owners and their employees.
This financial support from our government has been and is a lifeline for our businesses.”
The 2020 report found that the COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on the normal operation of businesses in Niue across 2020, with only 26 per cent fully operational by the end of 2020 compared with 36 per cent across the Pacific Islands.
Furthermore, towards the end of 2020, Niue businesses became increasingly challenged by poor cashflow, labour issues and increasing costs. As the year rounded out, businesses in Niue actioned more initiatives to reduce operational costs and nearly half diversified their products/services.
The Niue Focus 2020 report found that 73 per cent of businesses in Niue had received support from the government by the end of 2020, compared with 55 per cent across the Pacific Islands.
Despite significant challenges, just over three quarters of businesses in Niue are confident they will survive the COVID-19 crisis and two thirds are still either partly operational or fully operational.
PTI Australia’s Trade & Investment Commissioner, Caleb Jarvis, said the consistent and proactive feedback from Niue businesses throughout the Pacific Business Monitor series is testament to the Niue Chamber of Commerce, which understands the importance of quantitative data.
“I would like to thank all the businesses in Niue that have taken part and are continuing to take part in the Pacific Business Monitor. Niue’s ability to innovate and its commitment to business excellence is inspiring.
“Despite being a small island state with a population of less than 2000, we received the strongest and most consistent response from business leaders in Niue since we began tracking the impact of COVID-19 on the Pacific private sector.
“This is a testament to Catherine and the team at the Niue Chamber of Commerce for driving member engagement, understanding the importance of having their voices heard, and backing up the realities businesses are facing with data.”