Property for sale in Solomon Islands

Is the capital of the Solomon Islands and of Guadalcanal Province, although it is a separately administered town.

Is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. Together they cover a land mass of 28,400 square kilometers. The capital is Honiara, located on the island of Guadalcanal.

Private sector development faces severe challenges in Solomon Islands. Following the euphoria resulting from the restoration of order that occurred with the arrival of the RAMSI force, uncertainty has crept back into the economy. On the one hand, there are promising signs of a resumption of foreign resource investment as well as a pick up in local economic activity. However, in Solomon Islands, the foundations of private sector growth are weak. Virtually none of the essential features of a good environment for entrepreneurship, investment and risk taking exist and most public goods required to support the functioning of businesses and contracting are absent or inadequate. In addition, there is a pervasive culture of interference and control by the public sector that exists along with an extremely weak public administration capacity. The juxtaposition of these factors result in serious impediments to doing business. There is a central role for Solomon Islands’ Government in improving those conditions, primarily by recognizing the private sector as a source of growth, by reducing the impediments to investment and entrepreneurship and by strengthening public goods such as the legal system and property rights.

In any country, investors with more capital have an advantage over those with less capital. This is as true in the U.S. as it is in Solomon Islands. However, this is not a reason to prohibit those with more capital engaging in particular activities. Successful investments benefit the economy as a whole, as well as the individual investor by raising the overall level of prosperity. Keeping those with capital away from activities in which they could invest successfully harms many Solomon Islanders. However, it is true that the system of property rights and collateral severely disadvantages entrepreneurs in Solomon Islands, especially those without capital. This is an argument for reforming the collateral system, however, not for proscribing certain activities.

o Getting genuine foreign investors and entrepreneurs to invest in Solomon Islands is difficult. It is highly unlikely that there are investors who would push Solomon Islanders out of investment opportunities. Far more plausible is the danger that the difficulty foreign investors face in investing will result in them sending their capital and skills elsewhere.