French Polynesia is a territory of France located in the Pacific Islands region. Divided into 118 islands and five archipelagos (four volcanic and one coral) within five million square km of sea, it is home to a population of 287,032 (July 2009 est.) with a growth rate of 1.391% (2009 est.) and a GDP per capita of $18,000 (2004est.).

Background

The long standing concerns of irregular shipping affecting the Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) continue to dominate the transport agendas of the Forum Island leaders and small island states (SIS) leaders meetings.  

Directive by PICT leaders

Recognising the fact that shipping is crucial to the economic development and sustainability of the region, the 2006 meetings of the Forum leaders and SIS provided definitive direction on the way forward. Thus the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) was tasked to provide high-quality shipping company management and operational advice to PICTs and promote more efficient shipping services to PICTs, in particular SIS. By carefully studying the shipping patterns in the region, SPC’s Regional Maritime Programme (RMP) realised that the close collaboration among the shipping companies has resulted in a near cartel environment that offers little or no competition in this area. Their services are also very selective, targeting regular to profitable ports while providing erratic services to others.