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Swimming Against the Tide? An sector needs’ (p. 2). None of this is new but assessment of the private sector in the what the authors have added in this very Pacific well written report is the depth of analysis, especially of issues such as the constraints Paul Holden, Malcolm Bale and Sarah Holden, to the development of financial markets and 2004, Asian Development Bank, Manila, 178 pp, ISBN 9 715 61534 1 the arrangements necessary in order for private markets to function effectively. This report is an output of the Pacific The analysis is largely based on the Department in the Asian Development Bank concepts of the New Institutional Economics aimed at developing understanding of the with its focus on transactions costs. The reasons for the poor private sector develop- ways in which existing institutional arrange- ment in the Pacific island countries. The ments lead to high transactions costs facing authors take as a basic assumption that potential investors are highlighted and the development of the private sector is critical ways in which new institutional arrange- to the Pacific island countries’ long-term ments could lower transactions costs are economic growth and reduction of poverty. explored. Further, it is assumed that the private sector The critical question the authors pose is will only flourish when there is a welcoming whether these societies have to modernise environment for investment. Otherwise, and give up their cherished traditions in capital provided by donors and inter- order to promote private sector develop- national finance agencies only finances the ment and its resulting benefits. Their answer flight of private capital from the Pacific is that the societies will have to adopt island countries. modern business practices if they are to It is recognised that the Pacific island prevent even larger proportions of their countries do have economic disadvantages populations falling into poverty and to in the form of geographical remoteness, increase the welfare of all the people. small markets and frequent natural However, the authors believe that such disasters. However, these natural handicaps modernisation can take place without are compounded by weak macroeconomic forgoing tradition. They believe that incentive performance, poor governance, political structures that determine individual instability, extensive government involve- behaviour can be introduced that respect ment in what would otherwise be activities local cultural practices, just as they have in carried out by the private sector, under- other countries that have modernised. developed financial sectors, and a poor However, the authors caution that in legal and investment policy environment order for such institutional change to take for business. place there must be broadly based discussion After examining private sector assess- of the issues in order to have society-wide ments of the Marshall Islands, Papua New ownership of the changes needed for private Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu, and surveying sector development. opinions around the region, the authors The authors set out a roadmap for the conclude that the prime cause of the poor implementation of such reform. As a first private sector performance is ‘extensive step there must be a public commitment to state involvement in areas better left to the private sector development. However, it private sector, coupled with the state’s must be made very clear to the private sector inability to provide the public goods and that while there will be extensive changes institutions…that a flourishing private to build an investor-friendly environment,

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there will not be any special deals for will be strong resistance from the traditional individual firms or industries. The second élite because of their loss of power. Their step is to carry out detailed studies to existing power essentially stems from the identify the constraints to private sector communal ownership of land and the development, as these will vary from rhetoric about how this form of land country to country. Next, there should be ownership provides a social safety net. consultation with the private sector to The report sets out the principles that prioritise the actions to be taken and to need to be observed to gain the acceptance design the institutions and the policy of the customary landowners. As well, the changes to be implemented. authors suggest the steps that could be Throughout, the authors emphasise, followed to overcome the problems arising bold political leadership will be necessary. in establishing the rightful owners to the This key ingredient is what has so often been land, the boundaries of the land and the missing in past attempts at reform and has allocation of rights to the land. been the main factor in the success of As the authors remark, the steps are economic reforms in Samoa. simple, the process is not. To take but one area of needed reform This report demonstrates the authors’ covered, the authors set out a sensible, non- understanding of the reasons for the poor threatening approach to the changes needed performance of the Pacific island countries, to land tenure in order for private sector and the suggestions they make for over- development to flourish. As they argue, the coming the constraints to private sector fact that most land in the Pacific island development are sensitive to the practical countries is held under customary ownership, and political obstacles standing in the way without a secure form of leasehold available of change. The report is an excellent to individual investors, is the major factor contribution to the discussion of the process inhibiting the development of commercial of economic reform in the Pacific region. credit for most people in the rural sectors. Reading it should be of value to university As a result, private sector investment is sub- students, development assistance optimal and productivity of the land is much professionals and policymakers. lower than it could be. As well as needing ‘ownership’ of the Ronald Duncan idea of creating such individual forms of University of the South Pacific land tenure, the authors note that ‘institutional software’ in the form of land South Pacific Least Developing registries, local courts, survey capacity, Countries: towards positive property valuation and mortgage prepar- independence ation will be necessary in order for a land market to be fully operational. The report Binayak Ray, 2003, Progressive Publishers, Kolkata, 190 pp, ISBN 8 180 64056 6 also details why it is very difficult, if not impossible, to securitise ‘movable assets’ In South Pacific Least Developing Countries, the and what arrangements would be necessary author paints a realistic, though somewhat to have effective registration and enforce- gloomy, picture of what he describes as the ment of such assets so that people could use least developing countries in the Pacific— them as collateral for credit. Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu The political difficulties of this whole and Vanuatu—following the United Nations process are recognised. In particular, there Development Programme’s characterisation

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of these countries. Although his noble vision community in developing economic and of positive economic and political independ- social policies’. This is important for a ence (that is, ‘not depending on others’ and number of reasons. For instance, the not to be ‘under obligation to others’) for disadvantages (geographical, demographic, these countries is somewhat utopian in this economic and so on) of these countries age of internationalisation and globalisation, ought to be taken into serious consideration it is nonetheless important in that it in an honest assessment of their respective challenges these Pacific island nations to a situations. Some of these disadvantages are more assertive will to become economically clearly not the inventions or creations of the and politically independent. Pacific people themselves. Trade barriers This study is a provocative analysis of and market access are factors beyond these economic, governance and development countries’ control. Geographical isolation is issues in the Pacific island nations the author a function of distance, not the result of some investigates. More than just a descriptive conscious design. Global warming and the account of corruption, instability and other resultant rising sea levels, which threaten to such negative emphases which now submerge Tuvalu and other Pacific countries dominate many studies of the Pacific, this are not the result of over-industrialised study offers a prescriptive analysis of the Pacific societies. And most, if not all, Pacific reasons behind these nations’ socio-political countries are still struggling to make sense and economic problems. The author’s of the socio-political systems inherited from interests include, among other things, the the colonial powers. In fact, many of the proposal for a collective approach among current problems with these countries’ the Pacific island nations to a more effective political systems are debts bequeathed by utilisation of their natural resources, colonialism. These issues are often especially what the author describes as their overlooked or simply ignored in many ‘large exclusive economic zone’. This is an analyses of the Pacific situation. important proposal worthy of further In looking at the issues from the analysis by the Pacific island nations perspectives of the Pacific countries he themselves. analyses, the author thus makes a genuine While the author adopts a basically attempt to ground his analysis in socio- development economics mode of analysis, historical contexts, taking into account the he goes beyond mere economic prescription possibilities and limitations inherent in those to a broader approach that accommodates contexts. Herein lies another major strength constitutional law, political, cultural theoretical of this study: it is grounded. This challenges and other disciplinary perspectives in his remote-controlled analysis and the examination of the causes and effects of the promulgation of pre-conceived notions poor socioeconomic status quo in these about Pacific island peoples. countries. This, in my view, is one of the That said, it must also be noted that the major strengths of the book: it attempts a author’s attempted comprehensive approach more integrated approach to the issues, thus runs the risk of glossing over some important challenging piecemeal assumptions and issues. One such issue is the author’s approaches to good governance and appraisal of Pacific constitutional systems. development in the Pacific. The author’s claim that Samoa is a constitut- The author also looks at the issues from ional monarchy, strictly speaking, is not the perspectives of the Pacific countries consistent with constitutional facts. The being investigated, feeling ‘the pulse of the assertion that the Constitution of Samoa

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1960 ‘has virtually a constitutional monarchy, alism or emotional attachment. In fact, the although it has neither been incorporated constitutional prohibition against the nor made clear or fully explained in the alienation or disposition of customary land constitution’ is ambiguous. True, the Head or any interest therein by way of sale, of Samoa has prerogative power and other mortgage, gift or otherwise is predicated on constitutional functions granted under the the understanding that family land belongs Constitution, such as giving the royal assent to all the members of the family, both present to parliamentary bills as a necessary stage and future. In a very important sense, this in Samoa’s lawmaking procedure. But, in is a legal mechanism designed to ensure that the final analysis, Samoa’s Head of State is the family’s future generations will have a ceremonial figure, a unifying symbol for land to live on, that is to say, they do not the nation as the constitutional framers have to buy land on which to live. The understood it. problem that Pacific peoples are now being Regarding the election of the Head of asked to face as part of socio-economic State which the author seems to consider a reform is acquiring the right to use customary potential problem, it must be noted that land in execution of loans and so forth Article 18(1) provides for the election of a without (arguably) ultimately alienating future Head of State by Parliament under family property. Whether or not that will the provisions of the First Schedule of the prove to be a viable long-term economic Constitution and pursuant to specific solution to the Pacific’s economic problems qualifications set out in Clause (2), including remains to be seen. One thing seems certain the eligibility of the nominee to be elected though: at the end of the day, people need as a member of Parliament and that the land to live on and landless generations will nominee does not possess such other create much more than just economic qualifications as Parliament may determine problems. from time to time by resolution. In other While issues such as the ones noted words, the election of a future Head of State above do not untimately undermine the will be governed by and conducted in credibility of the author’s study, they do accordance with established legal and warn against the tendency to gloss over democratic procedures. differences and disparities arising out of In an interesting discussion of land divergent cultural specifities and political tenure systems in the Pacific, the author histories of Pacific countries. Be that as it mounts a case for legal title in fee simple. may, the author should be applauded for Whereas the need for the liberalisation of making an honest effort to look at the issues property rights must be conceded, any from the different perspectives of the actors reorganisation of land tenure systems must in the development movement in the Pacific, be done sensitively and with caution as the including that of the Pacific people author himself correctly noted. What is themselves. After all, they are the ones who contentious is the author’s claim that the stand to be affected by the development difficulty of effectuating land reform lies in programs being prescribed. what he describes as ‘the community’s In conclusion, I note with approval R.J. emotional attachment with land’. May’s evaluation of this study in the preface, It needs to be said that the difficulty of that this study ‘goes beyond the bounds of privatising land ownership is the result of conventional economic prescriptions for the the interplay of complex factors; it is most region and challenges some of the certainly not a mere matter of sentiment- conventional wisdoms of both policy

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makers and Pacific islanders themselves’. ‘which reinforces the supremacy of And such is the important contribution the introduced law’ (p. 336), is not only a author makes to reform and development remnant of colonialism but a central feature analysis for the Pacific. of the international community’s relations with the region today (particularly through Iutisone Salevao the latter’s good governance and liberal- Asia Pacific School of Economics and isation agendas). This modernist outlook Government has contributed to Pacific societies’ difficulty The Australian National University in seeing past the dichotomies with which they have been burdened: state versus Passage of Change: law, society and community; nation versus kin; customary governance in the Pacific law versus common law; human rights versus custom; traditional versus modern Anita Jowitt and Tess Newton-Cain (eds), use of resources; and so on. 2003, Pandanus Books, Research School of Passage of Change is an important book Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian because it examines how these dichotomies National University, Canberra, 357pp, have come about, why they persist and the ISBN 1 740 76025 5 problems they cause in contemporary Passage of Change: law, society and governance Pacific island states. It does so by examining in the Pacific is, perhaps ironically, as much the application of law in the region. Although about change as lack of change. Since the book is written entirely by jurists contact with Europeans and subsequent associated with the University of the South Christianisation, colonisation and (in most Pacific’s School of Law (with the exception cases) decolonisation, Pacific island of Chapter 1), it does not deal with technical societies have undergone considerable aspects of law but rather with the role of law transformations economically, socially and in society and governance. As such, it politically (Chapter 1 by Vijay Naidu). At the provides a welcome perspective on same time, many characteristics of ‘ancient’ governance issues, differing from the usual Oceania remain, along with the heritage of points of view advanced by political the more recent colonial past. This is scientists and economists, and reminds us reflected in contemporary world views and that making sense of governance in the ways of being of communities and Pacific requires an interdisciplinary individuals which, throughout the region, approach. The book also demonstrates the are firmly rooted in local culture and many ramifications that a single field of practices. These ‘ways of being’, often human activity and thought (in this case, labeled ‘tradition’ or ‘custom’, continue to introduced law) can have in society. This is be held as legitimate precisely because they particularly the case in Pacific societies have withstood the passage of time and where law, in indigenous or native provide meaning, connection and purpose conceptualisation, has never been a stand- on a daily basis. Lack of change also alone practice or category of thought, and characterises the modernist/positivist where justice has been understood more in assumptions with respect to the nation-state, terms of restoring balance in the community constitutional regimes and the rule of law, than in terms of defending individual which continue to dominate the ‘formal’ interests (see Chapter 14 by Sinclair Dinnen). (state/bureaucracy) sector (Chapter 16 by Yet, as Passage of Change illustrates, ‘law’ in Robert Hughes). The modernist outlook, the Pacific has generally become

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synonymous with common law and women. Her contribution inevitably leads constitutional order while customary law, to a wider reflection on the links between often referred to as ‘custom’, is considered custom and human rights (dealt with in secondary. As Owen Jessep writes Section 4 of the book) that are generally When ‘the law’ notices custom, it does assumed to conflict and to belong to so as something other than true law— different realms of thinking and practices. either as fact, like ‘compensation’ But as Zorn demonstrates, it is often because treated as part-payment of damages many features of custom remain vastly or as a factor in sentencing, or as underpublicised that certain decisions of foreign law, like customary marriages. village courts, dominated by male power- Custom is objectified and so kept out brokers, discriminate against women. of the development of local common Indeed much of women’s custom— law (p. 208). knowledge, rights, responsibilities and This has led to ‘lack of progress in status—has, with the impact of colonialism establishing and developing an appropriate and subsequent political developments, ‘indigenous jurisprudence’, that is a body been ignored or sidelined in contemporary of legal doctrine which reflects Melanesian governance. It remains an under-researched ideas and principles’ (p. 216). area. Practices such as ‘bride price’, for Zorn, in her excellent contributions on instance, are today interpreted in ways that family law (Chapter 5), also shows how are very different from their original customary law is consistently made to fit purpose and conceptualisation. At the same into the framework of common law, and time, Zorn shows that the state legal system she concludes that: ‘[t]o the extent that the ‘fails to redress the problems caused by courts privilege common law principles custom…’ thereby leading to situations and processes over customary law, the law where ‘women are the subjects of double diverges from the felt experience of the discrimination’ (p. 137). A much more people’ (p. 112). Grace Molisa and I also thorough understanding of Pacific came to a similar conclusion with respect philosophies and practices, with respect to to the state of politics in Vanuatu, where, women as well as other categories of the in our discussions about governance, many population, is necessary so that they may ni-Vanuatu expressed a sense of alienation be critically evaluated—as should be due to a lack of ‘understanding [of ] a introduced principles, systems and system [Vanuatu] has been burdened with’ institutions—in today’s context. (Huffer and Molisa 1999). It seems that as In conclusion, Passage of Change should long as what is categorised as custom does be seen as an invitation to law students to not become part and parcel of begin building a ‘Pacific jurisprudence or contemporary governance (law, politics, philosophy of law’ (p. 1). It should also serve economics), state and local institutions will as a warning to regional policymakers, continue to lack legitimacy and relevance academics and donors that if the rule of law to many communities throughout the is to be widely accepted in the region, then region (see Chapter 3 by Graham Hassall). it must be made relevant and legitimate by Zorn, in another chapter on women and adapting itself to Pacific world views. The the law, raises the thorny issue of the latter cannot be discarded as secondary and interpretation of custom in village and the process of integration must be a two-way national courts, particularly with respect to street.

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On a final, editorial note, the book well in soliciting papers from a wide range would have benefited from more careful of social scientists, all established organising and proofreading. The volume commentators on the country. is somewhat artificially divided into six Like Papua New Guinea itself, one of the parts, the order of chapters is not always strengths of the volume is the diversity of logical and the section on natural resources perspectives and languages that the volume is limited in scope. References in some contains. Contributors to Modern Papua New chapters are inaccurate and there are too Guinea come from a range of disciplinary many typographical errors for a scholarly backgrounds: economists, anthropologists, publication. In addition, certain chapters are social workers, geographers and political clearly based on lecture notes and should scientists are all included. The length of the have been reworked for a wider readership. contributions vary (anthropologists seem to Finally, it is a shame that there was no have the most to say, or at least need more collaboration with Pacific islander students words to say it), as does the engagement and scholars as authors or co-authors. That between theory and more empirical material. said, the volume is a valuable contribution The book is structured around four main to regional scholarship on governance and themes: state and national identity, should hopefully lead to substantive economic development, the ‘New Society’, research and publishing on Pacific legal and people’s welfare. Within this framework philosophy. the topics are wide-ranging, covering the state–society relationship, plantations and Elise Huffer smallholder agriculture, fisheries, mining, University of the South Pacific inequality and gender in the urban setting, AIDS and sex work, the education system, References law and order, and conservation. Rather Huffer, E. and Molisa, G., 1999. Governance than try and provide a sample from each, it in Vanuatu: in search of the Nakamal Way, is perhaps more useful to concentrate on two Discussion Paper 99/4, State, Society of the chapters and use them to highlight a and Governance in Melanesia, theme that occurs throughout the book. Research School of Pacific and Asian A common thread in the bulk of the Studies, The Australian National papers is the dilemma faced equally by the University, Canberra. individual and the state in balancing notions of ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’. One explicit example of this is Christine Modern Papua New Guinea Bradley’s contribution on the examination by the Papua New Guinea Law Reform Laura Zimmer-Tamakoshi, 1998, Mt Thomas Commission on domestic violence. In the Jefferson University, Kirksville, 424pp. Index, context of the widespread condoning of wife figures, ISBN 0 943 54957 4 beating, the Commission had to negotiate This very useful edited volume provides a between the written law and the Papua New series of essays on various elements of Guinea Constitution—both firmly against social, cultural, economic and political life domestic violence—and the Commission’s in Papua New Guinea. It was put together own mandate to ‘make the country’s system in response to the lack of a broad-ranging of law more compatible with Papua New text on contemporary Papua New Guinea. Guinea’s customary attitudes and practices’ Zimmer-Tamakoshi has done exceedingly (p. 353). The review went ahead, and the

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Interim Report highlighted both the extent mining companies…The Melanesian of the problem and sought ways of reducing Way of menacing the mining industry domestic violence. The 1987 Interim Report is not just a failure to cooperate with was generally welcomed, except in the the industry itself, which many people National Parliament where one member might applaud as a heroic act of ‘was outraged that the nation’s leaders were resistance, but a lack of mutual being asked to waste their valuable time cooperation in the pursuit, and even discussing family quarrels, and another said the definition, of that ‘development’ he would like to tear up and burn the which everyone agrees they want (p. Interim Report’ (p. 356). The extensive 175). public education campaign that followed These are simply two of the many very has been highly successful at changing such good contributions making up this volume. attitudes, and indeed continues in some This is an illuminating collection that offers parts of the country today. something for most specialised interests, Likewise Colin Filer’s chapter on mining and should form an essential addition to the (entitled, with the typical Filer flair for irony, collections of those with an interest in ‘The Melanesian Way of menacing the Australia’s nearest neighbour. mining industry’) offers typically insightful commentary on the clashes between Glenn Banks traditional communities and multinational Australian Defence Force Academy mining houses. Slinging a few barbs in the University of New South Wales direction of ‘coffee shop’ environmentalists along the way, he points out that …although we might detect a superficial resemblance between the way that Melanesian villagers and Western environmentalists perceive the ‘pollution’ of the mining industry, we need to bear in mind that the Melanesian perception (and the actions that stem from it) owes much less to the desire for a ‘clean natural environment’ than it owes to the search for a new social and economic order (p. 174). He concludes by arguing persuasively that local and national political discourse directed at the mining companies …is not a conscious or deliberate battle against the demons of mineral imperialism, but an internal struggle which threatens the fabric of their state and has the accidental or unintended effect of creating an increasingly problematic investment climate for the

139 An Assessment of the Private Sector in the Pacific. © Asian Development Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/2656. License: CC BY 3.0 IGO. The Bangladesh Quarterly Economic Update (QEU) has been produced by the Bangladesh Resident Mission of the Asian Development Bank since March 2001. The QEU provides information and analysis on Bangladesh’s macroeconomic and sector developments, key development challenges, and policy and institutional reforms. The QEU has wide readership in government, academia, development partners, private The Bangladesh Quarterly Economic Update (QEU) has been produced by the Bangladesh Resident Mission of the Asian Development Bank since March 2001. Swimming Against the Tide? book. Read reviews from world’s largest community for readers. Strategic solutions for impediments to private sector developme... · 1 rating · 0 reviews. Strategic solutions for impediments to private sector development in the Pacific are detailed in this volume. The current economic environments in Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, and Vanuatu are examined and suggestions are made for promoting private investment. Get A Copy. Amazon. (2004). Swimming against the tide: An assessment of the private sector in the Pacific. Manilla: Asian Development Bank.Google Scholar. Appraisal Foundation. Land tenure and land conflict in the South Pacific. Consultancy report for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Rome. Retrieved 12 April, 2007, from http://www.usp.ac.fj/fileadmin/files/faculties/islands/landmgmt/publications/faoreport.pdf.Google Scholar. Boydell, S. (2001, July). Philosophical perceptions of Pacific property - Fiji, paradise lost or paradise found? Paper presented at the 1st World Congress of the International Real Estate Society, Anchorage, Alaska. Swim Against the Tide is the third extended play by the English indie pop act The Japanese House, released on 11 November 2016 through Dirty Hit. The EP's first two songs — "Swim Against the Tide" and "Face Like Thunder" — were released as singles before the EP's release. The EP peaked at number 12 on Billboard's Heatseekers album. The EP's lead single "Face Like Thunder" was written before the release of The Japanese House's debut album Pools to Bathe In, and was adapted for inclusion in Swim Against A French swimmer will try to become the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean. Ben Lecomte, 51, set off from Japan on Tuesday on his superhuman task of crossing the ocean. It will take him more than six months to complete the 9,000-km swim. He will have to swim for eight hours a day to reach his target on the west coast of the USA. He will also have to face many dangers. There will be sharks, jellyfish, storms, rough seas, and very low water temperatures. Lecomte said he is doing the swim to raise awareness of climate change, the effects of plastic rubbish in the ocean, and the effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on the ocean. Scientists will also study his body to monitor how extreme exercise affects the heart. In 1998, Lecomte made the first solo trans-Atlantic swim.