Forum agenda broadens says Urwin
PRESS STATEMENT 114/07
28th September 2007
FORUM AGENDA BROADENS SAYS URWIN
The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Greg Urwin says the Forum’s agenda is broadening because the organisation’s members are looking to it to support them in a wide range of things they are doing.
Speaking in the September edition of the Forum Secretariat’s Monthly Radio Programme, Mr Urwin said: “The Forum agenda is building up all the time partly I think because our members are looking to the Forum for more support and because the Forum partners are investing more time and effort in the organization as well.”
“So all of that is contributing to a broadening agenda,” Mr Urwin said.
He described the past year as “very busy”.
Mr Urwin said since the Pacific Forum Leaders endorsed the Pacific Plan two years ago, it required a great deal of coordination and implementation to continue to drive that forward.
“It has been of course in a sense a very political year in ways we hadn’t quite foreseen at the time of the last Leaders meeting last October.
“There’s a great deal of interest in the situation in Fiji and the ongoing situation in Solomon Islands. And on top of all that we have a very active trade agenda where we are getting to a critical stage in our negotiations with the European Union on an Economic Partnership Agreement,” Mr Urwin said.
Following his pre-Forum discussions with member countries, Mr Urwin says there are several issues that Leaders want included in the 38th Forum Leaders Meeting to be held in Tonga 16 – 17 October.
This includes the Pacific Plan initiatives, work being done in the energy sector and climate change.
“But in terms of specific issues that might come up at this Forum, clearly there’s a good deal of interest in what’s happening in Fiji in the light of Fiji’s position as the headquarter for a lot of regional organizations,” Mr Urwin said.
Other issues expected to come up at the Forum Leaders meeting will be the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) Review Taskforce Report and the Regional Institutional Framework.
The monthly Forum Radio Programme is sent to Public Service Broadcasters in Forum member countries.
ENDS.
28th September 2007
FORUM AGENDA BROADENS SAYS URWIN
The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Greg Urwin says the Forum’s agenda is broadening because the organisation’s members are looking to it to support them in a wide range of things they are doing.
Speaking in the September edition of the Forum Secretariat’s Monthly Radio Programme, Mr Urwin said: “The Forum agenda is building up all the time partly I think because our members are looking to the Forum for more support and because the Forum partners are investing more time and effort in the organization as well.”
“So all of that is contributing to a broadening agenda,” Mr Urwin said.
He described the past year as “very busy”.
Mr Urwin said since the Pacific Forum Leaders endorsed the Pacific Plan two years ago, it required a great deal of coordination and implementation to continue to drive that forward.
“It has been of course in a sense a very political year in ways we hadn’t quite foreseen at the time of the last Leaders meeting last October.
“There’s a great deal of interest in the situation in Fiji and the ongoing situation in Solomon Islands. And on top of all that we have a very active trade agenda where we are getting to a critical stage in our negotiations with the European Union on an Economic Partnership Agreement,” Mr Urwin said.
Following his pre-Forum discussions with member countries, Mr Urwin says there are several issues that Leaders want included in the 38th Forum Leaders Meeting to be held in Tonga 16 – 17 October.
This includes the Pacific Plan initiatives, work being done in the energy sector and climate change.
“But in terms of specific issues that might come up at this Forum, clearly there’s a good deal of interest in what’s happening in Fiji in the light of Fiji’s position as the headquarter for a lot of regional organizations,” Mr Urwin said.
Other issues expected to come up at the Forum Leaders meeting will be the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) Review Taskforce Report and the Regional Institutional Framework.
The monthly Forum Radio Programme is sent to Public Service Broadcasters in Forum member countries.
ENDS.
