Pacific Islands

The meet had renewed and celebrated solidarity as a Forum Family.

 Also in attendance were Heads of State, Government, and Territories from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. French Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia was represented at the Ministerial level.

Key Outcomes of the Retreat included:

Key points:

The newly released PTI Pacific Business Monitor – Recovery Series Q2 2022 report has found that 90 percent of businesses are confident that they will survive the COVID-19 crisis - the highest figure since tracking began.

Business professionals from Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu graduated from the four-month professional development scholarship program.

Applications for the final cohort for business professionals in Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga opened yesterday Monday 4 July, 2022. Participation in the program is free, with each place valued at A$5,500 (appx. K12,000).

This was a challenge that has only exacerbated as businesses across the region contend with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and a myriad of interrelated social and economic pressures.

To support business recovery during this challenging time, PTI Australia launched the Packaging Support Initiative in early 2022 and has since seen over eighteen successful applicants receive the financial rebate.

Their concerns were voiced after the first meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

In a statement released today, PANG calls on the Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which came into force in January last year, that they must prioritize and address the impacts of nuclear testing legacies on people and the environment in the Pacific Islands.

The allegations raise serious press freedom concerns and alarm about the ability of Pacific journalists to do their jobs, particularly as the relationship between the region and China becomes closer.

Wang is midway through a marathon trip visiting eight countries in 10 days. He has held bilateral meetings in Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa and Fiji to date, with trips to Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste to come.

The grant support must be related to renewable energy, sustainable landscapes, including climate adaptation and resilience projects. 

Proposals should address the urgent need to accelerate climate action in line with the crucial goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

The US Embassy states that Renewable energy project activities focused on climate mitigation in the energy sector should include women beneficiaries and the need for greater women’s inclusion and leadership in the energy sector in substantive aspects of the project. 

Approximately 60 percent of the raw material for the global tuna canning market comes from the WCPO. There are two reasons why COVID-19’s impact on the tuna industry should be monitored.

First, shelf-stable foods, such as canned tuna, have taken on a new level of significance for food security. Second, Pacific island countries are dependent on revenues from the licensing of fishing vessels.

“There are millions of people around the world stranded by COVID-19 and we are continuing to do our part to help them get home,” Mr Peters said. “Accordingly, Cabinet agreed yesterday that New Zealand would seek reciprocal transit arrangements with a number of countries to enable our citizens to transit each other’s airports.

“One barrier to New Zealanders getting home at present is the transit restrictions imposed by a number of countries. We continue to seek assistance from these countries to enable New Zealanders to transit through their airports in order to come home.