Port Moresby

Chief Executive Officer of GOC, Peter Stewart thanked everyone who had contributed to the success of the XVth Pacific Games.

Since the Closing Ceremony, GOC has paid off all its contractors and suppliers and prepared the financials for auditing by Deloitte. It has handed over all sports and office equipment to the National Sports Foundation and the PNG Olympic Committee as part of the legacy plan.

The event was officially opened by NCD Governor Powes Parkop.

The participants will have the opportunity to experience new developments in Port Moresby as well a feast of cultures as the country prepares to mark the 40^th Independence anniversary.

Chief Executive Officer of PNG Ports Corporation limited  (PNGPCL) Stanley Alphonse says the main objective of the conference is bring  together key maritime organisations, administrators,  businesses and other stake holders to develop and provide a focused vision to plan for ND manage issues of the pacific region.

Director General of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency, James Movick agrees the quota system will be a good basis to better manage the sustainable conservation of the region’s fisheries.

The 46th meeting of the Pacific Island leaders ended in Papua New Guinea last week with a repeat of calls to tackle climate change.

Small island states like Kiribati say developed nations like New Zealand and Australia should set their emissions target at 1.5 degrees but the two countries remain set on two degrees.

Jenny Hayward-Jones from the Lowy Institute says the resulting communique will still bring a strong Pacific voice to COP21.

Pacific Leaders engaged in meaningful roundtable discussion with the development partners Friday where they were briefed on decisions made on climate change, the 10 year fisheries roadmap, information and communication technology (ICT), cervical cancer and West Papua.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill of Papua New Guinea told journalists after the meeting that the donors and partners were very engaging in the dialogue.

Negotiations for a proposed EPA have been on going for the past eleven years with no agreement in sight, prompting the EU earlier this year to suggest that negotiations should be suspended for 3 years.

At the Pacific ACP Leaders meeting in Port Moresby today, Forum chair and Prime Minister of PNG Peter O'Neill said leaders want the Pacific to pursue a comprehensive EPA (cEPA) with the EU.

A meeting on this with European Commission senior officials is planned to be held in the margins of COP 21 in Paris in December this year.

The European Union's climate change commissioner is confident the world won't ignore the plight of tiny Pacific island countries at risk of disappearing under rising seas.

Miguel Canete told reporters at the Pacific Island Forum in Port Moresby on Tuesday that while countries such as Kiribati and the Marshall Islands were small, their voices were loud on the world stage.

“They are very active negotiators and they have a solid case... when you have commitment and passion your voice is heard,” he said.

Convening hours before the 46th annual Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Summit is due to open, Pacific members of the African, Caribbean and the Pacific bloc of countries are holding a one day session at a hotel near the country’s Jackson International Airport. All Forum member nations with the exception of Australia and New Zealand belong to the Pacific ACP group.

For the first time, 25 members of regional civil society organisations held a breakfast discussion with four Pacific Leaders, PM O’Neill, President Tommy Remengsau of Palau, President Christopher Loeak of Marshall Islands and President Peter Christian of the Federated States of Micronesia at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby.

The countries form the Forum Troika.

The host, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, told The Australian the Port Moresby summit “will showcase PNG’s energy and diversity, and we shall take leadership roles in some issues we are passionate about”.

These would include “climate change — and how the Pacific should position itself in that ­debate” in the run-up to the Paris World Climate Summit, “and about economic integration of the Pacific as a means of supporting the development of the region and mobilising skills”.