Kiribati’s President Tabai Stresses Self-Reliance : Leader of Pacific Island State Marches to Own Drummer

On a sultry equatorial afternoon, Ieremia Tabai welcomes guests to his presidential office. He is dressed in a pinstriped shirt, shorts and bare feet. He exudes quiet confidence and a down-to-earth pragmatism.

In a decade of leadership, such traits have made Kiribati’s president one of the most respected of the Pacific Island leaders.

Where many resource-poor island nations have become dependent on infusions of foreign aid, Tabai still bangs the drum of self-reliance. “It is better to subsist on your own than to rely on someone. It is hard for the people. But I am convinced we can do it,” the bearded leader said.

Many might consider Tabai’s optimism unrealistic. In addition to typical problems of crowded, typhoon-prone island nations lying thousands of miles from major markets, the Republic of Kiribati (pronounced Kiribass ) has its share of unique development hurdles:

* The size of Kiribati poses challenges for transportation, communication and government management. The micro-state consists of 65,000 people living on 33 coral island specks strewn across an ocean area as wide as the continental United States.

* In 1979, when it gained independence from Britain, Kiribati lost its largest revenue source when mining of phosphate ore from Banaba Island ceased because of a dispute with landowners. Government income was halved and export earnings fell 80%. The nation was left with coconuts and fish as exports.

* Scientists are now warning that rising sea levels, due to the so-called greenhouse effect, could flood low-lying atolls. Kiribati could become a nation of “environmental refugees.”

Yet Tabai insists Kiribati will overcome these hurdles. His attitude is typified by his now legendary refusal of certain aid.

In 1985, he canceled a multimillion-dollar British aid agreement. He decided to curb spending rather than to continue reliance on foreign handouts to subsidize the government’s recurring operational costs.

Recently, Tabai gave politely declined Australia’s offer to give 20 cars for chauffeuring regional leaders when they gather in Tarawa for this year’s South Pacific Forum meeting in July. “It’s embarrassing for me to receive Bob Hawke in my country in his car. I prefer to receive them in a car I’ve bought myself.”

Tabai has a commerce degree from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand, and keeps a tight hold on his nation’s purse strings. Government spending has been slashed, in real terms, by 5% a year since 1979. But spending is still more than the revenue from the nation’s limited sources. Budgetary shortfalls are covered by interest from the $148 million in the Revenue Equalization Reserve Fund. The fund, an accumulation of phosphate royalties, has been praised as a model for developing countries.

But the loss of the phosphate exports has meant Kiribati runs a trade deficit of $8 million to $16 million annually. To boost exports, Kiribati is developing small businesses, such as garment making--something other island states have done successfully. And efforts are under way to curb food imports, as sweet aromas from the new Tarawa Biscuit factory attest. “Already it’s producing 60% of local requirements,” Tabai boasts.

But economic growth since independence has been sluggish, at best. A government-funded fishing company has struggled to break even. Yet, Tabai remains confident. He’s excited about an Italian developer’s plans to build a $160-million resort complex on Fanning Island--possibly breaking ground next year. Apart from a few sports fishermen, not many tourists visit Kiribati. The Fanning Island project could put this out-of-the-way nation on travelers’ maps.

And Tabai hopes to restart the phosphate mines. He recently reached a verbal agreement with landowners on Banaba. “If all goes well, we will start mining again next year,” he said.

In recent years, royalty payments from foreign boats fishing in Kiribati waters have generated some funds--and controversy. In 1985, Tabai shocked Washington and Canberra by giving the Soviet Union fishing access rights. It was the Soviets’ first island toehold in a region long dominated by Western interests. The agreement lapsed after a year, when Tabai refused to lower access fees. But for the right price, he said, the Soviets would be welcome back.