Regional Consultations on Pacific Trade Underway Featured
17 August, 2015. More than one hundred trade and customs officials, the private sector, parliamentarians, non state actors and development partners from the Pacific region will converge at the Shangri-La Hotel in Sigatoka this week for a series of trade related meetings from 17 – 21 August.
The Pacific Regional Workshop on the ‘WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement’ organized by the Pacific, the World Bank Group and International Finance Corporation (IFC) kick starts the meetings. This two day workshop on the 17-18 August, is the culmination of a series of in-country consultations on the Trade Facilitation Needs Assessments undertaken for each Forum Island Country-WTO member: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
Strengthening trade and investment capacity in Pacific countries for a more vibrant and robust economic partnership with the United Stated will be the focus of the 'Pacific Islands –U.S Regional Workshop on Trade, Investment and Private Sector Development' on 19-20 August. This workshop co-sponsored by the United States Governments Department of State and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, will be attended by representatives from Pacific Island Member States, the private sector and the US Government.
At the end of the week, the focus will be on parliamentarians, non-state actors, private sector and government officials will discuss the dynamic role of various stakeholders in the management and oversight of trade policy, and the effective implementation of international trade agreements. There will be discussions on the trade integration dynamics in the region and the opportunities and challenges in regional trade.
A focused discussion on trade agreements currently being negotiated or implemented in the Forum Island Counties will be part of the ‘Comprehensive Consultation on Pacific Trade Comprehensive Consultations on Pacific Trade’ on 20–21 August, 2015.
ENDS
Source: Pacific Islands Forum
