9 May 2011
Samoa lost out in its trade with Australia and New Zealand because of time differences.
When Samoa jumped forward in time by a day
Samoa lost out in its trade with Australia and New Zealand because of time differences.
The South Pacific island nation of Samoa jumped forward in time by one day in 2011 in order to boost its economy.
Samoa did this by switching to the west side of the international date line, which it said would make it easier for it to do business with Australia and New Zealand.
Before the switch Samoa was 21 hours behind Sydney. On 29 December, 2010 it was three hours ahead.
The change came 119 years after Samoa moved in the opposite direction. Originally on the west side of the international date line Samoa transferred to the east side to facilitate trade with Europe and the US.
However, Australia and New Zealand increasingly become Samoa's biggest trading partners.
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said: "In doing business with New Zealand and Australia, we were losing out on two working days a week."
When it was Friday in Samoa it was Saturday in New Zealand and when Samoans were at church Sunday, business already was being conducted in Sydney and Brisbane.
Samoa is located approximately halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii and has a population of about 180,000 people.
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