Samoan Economics and Time Travel

Samoa - Not ugly

Samoa is a small nation in the Oceanic continent. In order to improve its Economic prospects in the future it has decided to travel back in time, quite literally. You see the Pacific Island nation currently lies in the time zone GMT-12 or WST meaning that if right now its 12 pm in London, Samoans are only beginning their day at 12 midnight, they are however, 21 hours behind their relatively speaking neighbours in Canberra.

Samoans haven't been free from major overhauls in recent history. In 2009 the law was changed to force civilians to drive on the left hand side of the road, the same as is done in key "neighbours" Japan and Australia.

So what is the problem with the time differences between Samoa and its neighbouring trade partners? Well you see the President claims they are losing two days of trading by having such a big time difference between New Zealand and Australia, and Samoa. As he says himself, "While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand and when we're at church Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane." So this measure should help improve economic productivity between these nations and Samoa from who it gets the majority of its imports and to whom exports amount to 85%.

Some in the nation have expressed reservations about the move however; Samoa had been noted for having the worlds last sunset. It will now join the nation's who have it first. However, the President has countered this argument that tourists will be able to cross the date-line by going to American Samoa and celebrate special occasions twice. Analysts have also stated that links between Samoans and the disapora in Australasia will be strengthened as a result.

The new time zone is expected to come into effect in 2012.