Solomon Islands to host 2016 Pacific Islands Development Forum Summit

​Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has accepted a proposal by the Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) Secretariat for Solomon Islands to host the organisation’s fourth summit this year.

The acceptance was communicated in a meeting between the Prime Minister and the PIDF Director-General, Francois Martel in Suva, Fiji last Friday during his MSG Capitals’ tour.

Martel requested the meeting to update the Prime Minister about new developments of the PIDF since its last summit in the Fiji Capital in September 2015 and also to put forward to him the proposal for the Solomon Islands Government to play host to the 2016 PIDF Summit.

He said Fiji has hosted the first three summits since the inception of the PIDF in 2013 and the secretariat feels that the summit hosting responsibility be taken on by other PIDF member countries to reflect their inclusivity and also the growing recognition of the PIDF as an international organisation.

Elaborating on PIDF’s growing recognition as an international organisation, Martel said the organisation has been registered with the United Nations as an international organisation and is in the process of also obtaining observer status of the world body.

Furthermore, he said he met with the New Zealand Foreign Minister, Murray McCully and he agreed that New Zealand can work in collaboration with the PIDF through the Pacific Islands Forum and for Tokelau-a New Zealand territory of atolls in the Pacific- to become a member of the PIDF.

He also said since the last PIDF summit, the organisation (PIDF) has gained two new members and they are the Pacific Islands Association of Non-Government Organisations (PIANGO) and Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO), which also brings with it 15 umbrella non-governmental organisations in its 15 member countries. The two new additions have raised the overall membership of the PIDF to 11.

The member states of the PIDF include Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Prime Minister Sogavare welcomed the positive developments made by the PIDF Secretariat in its bid to gain international recognition for the PIDF.

He said he believes in the PIDF and the MSG and their objectives and that these objectives can only be achieved through cooperation by member countries.

Prime Minister Sogavare said he welcomes the proposal by the PIDF Secretariat for the Solomon Islands Government to host the organisation’s fourth summit and he will send an official letter confirming his acceptance of the proposal in due course.

The PIDF was established in 2013 with the objective of driving transformative changes through national, regional and international frameworks by focusing on the sustainable and inclusive development of pacific islands.