Pacific Forum Leaders arrive for meeting in Tonga
PRESS STATEMENT 118/07
13th October 2007
PACIFIC FORUM LEADERS ARRIVE IN TONGA FOR 38TH FORUM MEETING
Pacific Forum Leaders have started arriving in the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga, Nuku’alofa for the 38th Leaders’ Forum.
The situation in Fiji and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) will be among the major issues that will be discussed during the Leaders Forum 16 – 17 October.
Other issues will include the Regional Institutional Framework and the progress of the implementation of the Pacific Plan. Other country issues include a proposal to include sports as an integral part of development in the region and another to improve the meteorological services in the region.
The series of meetings will start on 15th October with a meeting of the Smaller Island State Leaders and the Pacific ACP Leaders.
The King of Tonga, His Majesty King George Tupou V will officially open the 38th Forum on 16th October in the capital Nuku’alofa. The opening will be followed by a plenary session. The Leaders Retreat will be held in the northern island of Vava’u on 17th October. They will hold the 19th Post-Forum Dialogue Partners meeting with the 14 Post Forum Dialogue Partners on 18th October back in the capital Nuku’alofa.
“It’s the prerogative of any Forum Leader to raise any matter that they wish at the meeting at the retreat,” says Greg Urwin, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
“But the foreseeable items include the situation in Fiji and what the Forum has been doing since the events of 5th December 2006 to support Fiji in its return to an elected democracy, the report of the Forum Taskforce which reviewed RAMSI, the Regional Institutional Framework Taskforce report and the progress report on the Pacific Plan,” Mr Urwin says.
“It will be a pretty full week and as the Forum has grown a lot. There’s a lot of interest in the Forum and we have a lot of people that want to come into the sidelines to talk to us. While this makes the conduct of the various meetings quite complex, it is good to see such an interest in the Forum.”
ENDS.
For more information, contact Mr Johnson Honimae, Forum Media Officer on phones: 676 26119, 26128 or mobile 676 62544.
13th October 2007
PACIFIC FORUM LEADERS ARRIVE IN TONGA FOR 38TH FORUM MEETING
Pacific Forum Leaders have started arriving in the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga, Nuku’alofa for the 38th Leaders’ Forum.
The situation in Fiji and the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) will be among the major issues that will be discussed during the Leaders Forum 16 – 17 October.
Other issues will include the Regional Institutional Framework and the progress of the implementation of the Pacific Plan. Other country issues include a proposal to include sports as an integral part of development in the region and another to improve the meteorological services in the region.
The series of meetings will start on 15th October with a meeting of the Smaller Island State Leaders and the Pacific ACP Leaders.
The King of Tonga, His Majesty King George Tupou V will officially open the 38th Forum on 16th October in the capital Nuku’alofa. The opening will be followed by a plenary session. The Leaders Retreat will be held in the northern island of Vava’u on 17th October. They will hold the 19th Post-Forum Dialogue Partners meeting with the 14 Post Forum Dialogue Partners on 18th October back in the capital Nuku’alofa.
“It’s the prerogative of any Forum Leader to raise any matter that they wish at the meeting at the retreat,” says Greg Urwin, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
“But the foreseeable items include the situation in Fiji and what the Forum has been doing since the events of 5th December 2006 to support Fiji in its return to an elected democracy, the report of the Forum Taskforce which reviewed RAMSI, the Regional Institutional Framework Taskforce report and the progress report on the Pacific Plan,” Mr Urwin says.
“It will be a pretty full week and as the Forum has grown a lot. There’s a lot of interest in the Forum and we have a lot of people that want to come into the sidelines to talk to us. While this makes the conduct of the various meetings quite complex, it is good to see such an interest in the Forum.”
ENDS.
For more information, contact Mr Johnson Honimae, Forum Media Officer on phones: 676 26119, 26128 or mobile 676 62544.
