The Federal Pacific Insurance (FPI) Company officially opened its doors in Vanuatu this week at its new office located in the Central Business District of Port Vila.

A soft opening event was attended by members of the Vanuatu Government and the Business Community, with Members of Parliament from around the Pacific region, as well as members of the Samoan Community in Vanuatu.

Pastor Jim Bani blessed the opening and reminded Federal Pacific to put God first and everything else will fall into place.

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Hon Andrew Solomon Napuat congratulated Federal Pacific Insurance for this milestone and wishes them well “On behalf of our Government we welcome you to our shores, and given that you have established offices around the region, I am positive that your service and expertise will be welcomed by the Vanuatu insured public”

FPI spokesperson and General Manager for Federal Pacific Insurance, Namulau’ulu Papalii Sami Leota said the new office in Vanuatu was in line with Federal Pacific’s vision of offering its insurance services around the Asia-Pacific region.

“We give thanks to God that we have finally come to the opening of Federal Pacific Insurance in Vanuatu – we hope that today’s opening, with a new office and local staff, will be seen by the Government and people of Vanuatu as the starting point of our commitment as a long-term local partner and a valuable member of your beautiful island business community,” said Namulau’ulu.

At the event, he made special acknowledgment of the Government of Vanuatu and in particular the Reserve Bank of Vanuatu for taking FPI through a thorough vetting process which placed them in a better position to fully understand its compliance requirements.   

“In all areas of operation, our relationship with the Regulators is key to its success and we are looking forward to working closely with them,” he said.

Namulau’ulu acknowledged the FPG Board of Directors for the support given to the expansion, in particular, from the Group Chairman Papalii Alan Hutchison for the vision to expand to Vanuatu, as well as the hard work and commitment of the local team led by local Director Mr Manji Timbaci and Team Leader Aniva Tautu-Meredith.

Namulau’ulu acknowledged the excellent progress in staff skills since the Vanuatu license was granted in 2020 but was delayed due to pandemic restrictions.

“As in other countries where we have a footprint, a great deal of our business relies on the local knowledge of our staff and our empowering them with the right skills and insurance knowledge so they can eventually run the operation,” he said.

“I am positive there are better things yet to come for Federal Pacific Insurance, here in Vanuatu and the entire Region,” he said.

Present at the opening were representatives of Vanuatu Insurance Brokers who FPI sees as a partner in future placements.

Assistant Manager for Vanuatu Insurance Brokers Narrelle Crawford said, “As a Broker, we welcome FPI into our shores. From our perspective, the more insurance underwriters there are, the more choices our customers will have in underwriting their risks.”

Local Director Manji Timbaci, confirmed his excitement for what he saw as the great potential in Vanuatu for Insurance and finally getting the green light to open the doors to trade.   

“I’m positive that the people of Vanuatu will welcome FPI and we will give it our best efforts to uphold the good standing of Federal Pacific around the region especially when it comes to quality insurance services and prompt claims settlement,” he said.

“One highlight of the soft opening,” said Timbaci, “was to have the officials of the Vanuatu Government and the other Pacific Island Government members of Parliament present at the FPI opening - “I know it is God's timing for them all to be here at this time”.

The Samoa Government delegation in Vanuatu was led by the Honourable Member of Parliament, Leaana Ronnie Posini who together with Deputy Speaker joined hands in cutting the cake to commemorate the occasion.

Federal Pacific Insurance began trading in Apia, Samoa in 1998 and, has since set up offices in Tonga, Cook Islands, Timor Leste and now Vanuatu, with underwriting support offices based in New Zealand.

Federal Pacific associated companies have had investment in Vanuatu since 1997 currently employing 50 local staff.

Faafetai tele lava and Tankiyu Tumas.