Govt. yet to lock in Games corporate sponsors

By Sapeer Mayron 12 December 2018, 12:00AM

The Government is yet to lock in corporate sponsorship for the 2019 Pacific Games. 

But the Samoa Games Authority Chief Executive Officer, Falefata Hele Ei Matatia, is not too concerned and is confident it will be finalised by the end of the year.

“We have all our branding stuff that needs to be finalised, so we need to lock it in this month, this side of Christmas,” he said. 

He said negotiations with companies are ongoing, but the process is long.

“It’s never an easy negotiation because it’s making sure that both parties are agreeing to all the terms and conditions for the sponsorship deal.”

“We’re dealing with a lot of money and investment by these companies so we want to make sure we do our part honouring those people coming on board,” he said.

Not only that, but they have overseas management or boards to get approval from, which adds to the time it takes to finalise contracts.

“It has been a challenge,” said Falefata.

“It’s a puzzle, and a big part of it is this, and we want to make sure the right one comes on board.”

By the end of the year, the Pacific Games will have an official launch of the sponsors, and other companies coming on board to provide services, Falefata continued, confident that it won’t spill over into 2019.

“We have a tender’s board meeting tomorrow, which will finalise equipment as well as the overlay fixtures, as well as well as some of the venues that need refurbishments,” he said.

“So we are trucking along nicely.”

In the meantime, Falefata said they are not going over budget even without sponsorship funds.

“We’re on track with how we’ve been spending money. We’ve been very frugal with the way we spend our money, hence why we have a lot of volunteers on board,” he said.

“We’ve asked some of our donor partners to help with our personnel.”

By Sapeer Mayron 12 December 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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