nem and the Pacific Islands
The relationship between nem and the Pacific Islands stretches back almost 30 years involving almost every Pacific Island nation at some time. The initial involvement was through the Banking and Corporate Finance activities of its partners, however in 2011 this activity evolved into larger scale project coordination work, mainly in the fibre-optic submarine cable sector which, at the time, was gaining momentum as a core communication backbone for these remote nations.
It was clear that nem added greater value when a consortium approach to projects was adopted and strong relationships have evolved with key industry specialists, providing a core working group that has successfully completed many large-scale projects in Solomon Islands (Honiara and regional island connectivity), Samoa, Palau (x 2) and Vanuatu. It was due to these successful projects that nem was then appointed as a Client Side Project Management Services member of the Australia Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) Capital Infrastructure Services Panel in 2020, which provided the opportunity for nem to be appointed as the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) for the East Micronesia Cable Project connecting Kiribati, Nauru and the State of Koror (FSM) to the Hantru-1 cable in Pohnpei (FSM) and as the PCU for the implementation of the Timor-Leste South Submarine Cable Project.
These projects are large scale – often over US$100M in value - and can involve complex tri-lateral funding arrangements, under the watchful eye of the PCU.
What is a PCU?
Project Coordination differs to project management as it not only “manages” the project, it also acts as the key conduit between the major stakeholders of a complex project, including:
Development Partners – this specifically includes core funding agencies including Multi-National Development Banks (e.g. ADB, World Bank), AIFFP and foreign development funding agencies from other countries such as USA, Japan and New Zealand.
Pacific Island Governments.
Industry specialists in areas such as telecommunications and environmental management.
Key suppliers such as fibre-optic cable suppliers, civil works contractors, modular data centre supplies etc,.
Local Pacific Island operating entities.
The local telco market players, and
Key industry associations
The coordination of these core relationships place nem at the fore of all project activities, including the disbursement of Development Partner funding, stakeholder meeting coordination, risk management and of course project management of contractors, suppliers and the local workforce.
The importance of relationships
While nem has mainly been focused on the cable industry over recent years, its core relationships with many key industry specialists means the PCU concept can be brought to any larger-scale project.
The depth of these relationships is a key strength of nem, by bringing together a specialist team that respects the skills that the other members bring to the PCU and fosters a strong working relationship where difficult issues can be raised, safe in the knowledge that they will be properly addressed for the benefit of the project.
Over the years such relationships have been forged with some of the most respected specialists in their field, such as:
Telecommunications and cable – McCann Consulting International, Hibbard Consulting, Tourgee Consulting
Environmental and Social Management – ARGO Environmental
Administrative/Legal – Carwardine Legal
Data Centre Supply – DXN Ltd
Civil Works Management – Terralink Project Management
“ I have worked with nem on many successful projects over the past 13 years and have been impressed by the level of detail they bring to each project, leaving nothing to chance and ensuring all stakeholders are both well informed and accountable. They are a pleasure to work with” – Paul McCann – McCann Consulting International – 2025.