Pacific nations are relatively poor. While most Pacific countries enjoy relative macroeconomic stability, their fiscal situation tends to be weak, reflecting reliance on foreign aid. Clearly, poor economic performance makes it harder to achieve good infrastructure outcomes. However, the macroeconomic picture does not explain the Pacific infrastructure challenge. The real challenge is that Pacific countries demonstrate worse infrastructure performance than could be expected for their level of GDP. Dispersed populations, remoteness, and Pacific countries susceptibility to natural disasters mean they do not benefit from the economies of high infrastructure. Services are often more costly to produce and maintain, and it is expensive to increase access to rural areas. Institutional performance is generally likely to be the result of poor policy, but Pacific countries also share some characteristics that make it more difficult to build strong institutions. These include dependence on aid, small population size and low population density, ethnic diversity, and low levels of rural to urban migration. Transport infrastructure is a necessary element of effective governance in countries with thinly spread and isolated populations. | Projects | Data | Maps | | |  |
Roads and Highways The role of roads and highways varies significantly between pacific island countries. Larger islands often have significant road lengths which are well developed and carry moderate volumes of traffic, while smaller islands may have only a few kilometres of road which may or may not be sealed.  Across the Pacific, the majority of roads and highways are unselaed. The 1999 percentage sealed ranging from a low of 2.5 percent in the Solomon Islands, to a high of 49.2 percent in Fiji. Many roads are not built to full two lane standard, because the traffic flows are usually quite low. For example, in Tonga almost 80 percent of the roads carry less than 500 vehicles/day, and many less than 100 vehicles/day.
The road networks are often subject to extreme storms and, with many of them located near to the coastline, severance of services is not unusual. Efforts have been made to provide increased protection in some countries by building additional inland roads, but often there is no alternative. The management of the road network varies between countries. Some maintain traditional 'Public Works Departments' where the agency is responsible for planning and executing work, while others have separated out the function of planning from executing works, often by privitizing the works arm of the department and becoming a 'Ministry of Transport'. This latter approach is proving to be more effective in sustaining the road assets. Back to top Urban Transport The road density in the urban areas of the Pacific Islands is generally adequate given the size of the population and the traffic levels. While some larger cities such as Apia have short-term congestion, it is a comparatively small problem compared with congestion experiences in cities such as Bangkok. The implementation of modern traffic management equipment, such as coordinated traffic signals, can go a long way towards addressing the urban traffic flow problems in many Pacific Island cities, although some capacity expansion may also be required. The latter can be difficult given that 'customary land title' holds sway in many countries which can make acquiring land more difficult than where freehold title is available. As urbanization continues it can be expected that there will be increased demand for more and better (often sealed) urban roads in Pacific Island countries. Back to top Rural Transport  The larger Melanesian countries such as Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have particularly low road density levels per square kilometer of land, and road access is often limited to lower lying coastal areas and major cities or towns.
In Vanuatu a significant number of people live in the interior of Efate Island and Espiritu Santo Island but have no road access from their settlements to the coastal road. High costs of serving thinly populated and dispersed rural areas will affect the ability of Pacific countries to provide access to infrastructure in rural areas. Back to top Railways There are no railways in any of the Pacific Islands. Inland Waterways The Islands are non navigable and the distances are very short. Ports and Shipping  Pacific countries rely on ports and shipping for imports, exports,domestic and regional, transport of goods and passengers.
Improved productivity and efficiency in port operations results in lower import costs and higher export returns. This has a positive effect on the countries’ economies. Back to top Air Transport Air services are vital to Pacific countries and airport capacity plays an important role in accommodating tourist, business and cargo traffic. Larger Pacific airports such as the main airports in Fiji and Samoa can accommodate long haul flights on B747s, while smaller airports such as Bonriki International in Kiribati can only accommodate the smaller B737 aircraft.  Although anecdotal evidence suggests that airport capacity is constrained at peak times, on major routes, capacity appears to be adequate at most airports given existing annual passenger and aircraft traffic. Pacific airports do not often suffer from overcrowding,
Terminal facilities like retail, car rental and other services are lacking at most of the smaller airports. These services are important sources of non-aeronautical revenue for airports and help to finance maintenance and upgrades or expansion. They also provide a more positive experience for tourists and business passengers.
More Information:
 Â Pacific Islands Regional Strategy
 Millennium Development Goals
 Country Website
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