The business community in Vanuatu is strongly supportive of the government's offer of soft loans to try and restore the economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A National Business Forum is underway in Port Vila and one of the moves by the government is to provide 150 million vatu at very low interest rates to help businesses get back on their feet.
Astrid Boulekone Photo: Hilaire Bule
The move has been welcomed by the chief executive of the Chamber of Commerce, Astrid Boulekone, though she says they are still waiting for the government to provide details.
"How it will be implemented, how the time frame or the criteria, which businesses can access this loan, this soft loan, how they will access it or in what conditions, the amount, of course interest rate is important - we have just heard it's one percent or less than - between one and zero percent. This is very exciting," Ms boulekone said.