Supporting Private Sector Growth to Drive Economic Development in the Pacific Islands Featured
11 March 2016. “The private sector has an important role to play in the economic development of the Pacific Islands region and the Pacific Islands Trade & Invest Network is well-positioned to support this goal,” was the message conveyed by Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor today.
The Pacific Islands Trade & Invest (PT&I) Network is meeting in Auckland this week to collectively review and organise their efforts to support private sector growth in the Forum Island Countries.
PT&I facilitates private sector exports from the Pacific Islands to markets within and outside the region, and promotes inward investment into the region, while also supporting economic development through programmes that promote tourism, creative industries, cuisine and culture. PT&I is the trade and investment agency of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and has offices in Auckland, Beijing, Geneva, Sydney and Tokyo, which effectively function as trade outposts for the region’s private sector. Heads of these offices are meeting in Auckland this week to coincide with the Pasifika Festival.
“The PT&I network plays a key role in the Pacific Islands region’s economic development, through collaboration with a variety of stakeholders across the Forum Island Countries. The region’s private sector benefits greatly from the global market links that the PT&I network has built over several decades, and its many strengths including market knowledge, business contacts and the experience of its people,” Dame Meg added.
While in Auckland, the Heads of the PT&I Offices will also discuss how the network can continue to support the private sector’s role as a powerhouse for sustainable, inclusive, and equitable regional economic development and growth, consistent with the vision and objectives of the Framework for Pacific Regionalism.
Holding the meeting in Auckland while the city is hosting Pasifika, will give the PT&I Trade Commissioners an excellent sense of the broad innovative range of products and services that the Pacific region can supply to the world.
The PT&I Office in Auckland has facilitated a 21 member private sector delegation from four countries – Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga – to participate and exhibit at the Pasifika festival venue.
“The PT&I network is committed to working together with key stakeholders to assist the Pacific islands private sector grow through exports, and also facilitate inward investments in the Pacific region," said Dame Meg Taylor.
