Pitcairn Islands

Pitcairn Islands

Postby winston » Tue May 15, 2012 8:07 am

Remote islands seek help from US finance guru

Islanders from a remote British territory in the Pacific hope to lure billionaire US investor Warren Buffett to help them overcome a severe economic downturn, an academic said Monday.

Organizers of a conference in support of the Pitcairn islands, in the middle of the south Pacific, have invited the financial guru to attend the California event in August, not to give money but to help develop "a business plan."

Herbert Ford, director of the Pitcairn Islands Study Center at Pacific Union College (PUC) in Napa Valley, north of San Francisco, described the islands as "one of the smallest, most isolated and poor countries of the world."

The islands, home to only 60 people, have been hit hard by a change in Pacific Ocean sea lanes, ship schedule computerization, and an Internet-caused drop in the worldwide sale of Pitcairn's colorful postage stamps, he said.

Buffet "has a philanthropic heart... we believe he will see something special in this invitation to one of the world's richest people to help one of the smallest and poorest places in the world," he told AFP.

"We are not asking for his money... we're asking for something more valuable, his proven business acumen. With the gift of his business knowledge, we believe the Pitcairners can make a bright future for themselves.

"It's like, rather than giving a hungry man a fish, teaching him how to fish so he'll never be hungry again," he added.

Pitcairn, a five-square-kilometer island midway between New Zealand and Chile, was settled in 1789 by mutineers from the British naval ship the Bounty, who famously set their captain William Bligh adrift in the South Pacific.

Participants at the Second International Bounty-Pitcairn Conference will include four islanders, and a former British commissioner of the Pitcairn government, Leslie Jaques.

He added that the invitation to Buffett, head of holding company Berkshire Hathaway, had been sent last week, and that organizers hoped to hear from him soon.

A spokesman for Berkshire Hathaway could not immediately be reached for comment.


Source:AFP American Edition
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