SG EC-Pacific Regional Seminar
SG EC-Pacific Regional Seminar 27Mar06
28 Mar 2006 18:14:49 SPEECH FOR GREG URWIN,
SECRETARY GENERAL, FORUM SECRETARIAT
AT THE
EC-PACIFIC REGIONAL SEMINAR
Forum Secretariat, Main Conference Centre
9:00am Monday 27 March 2006
Honourable Ministers, Secretary General, ACP Secretariat, Director General, Mr Manservisi, National Authorising Officers, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the Forum Secretariat. Although the Forum Secretariat is not hosting this event, I do feel some responsibility for meeting arrangements so please let me know if there is anything the Secretariat can do to assist.
2. I would like to thank the previous speakers for their very pertinent remarks. It is my expectation that today's meeting will result in a better understanding of the range of programming needs all sides have, and that this will lead to an effective implementation of the 10th EDF. Last year we undertook the mid-term review of the 9th EDF Pacific Regional Programme, as a result of which an additional EURO 10 million was allocated to the 9th EDF Regional Programme and we shall be formalising this later in the day. These additional resources bring the total allocation to EUR 39 million back to the same as that received under the 6th EDF. Of the additional amount, 4 million will continue to support the South Pacific Community's oceanic fisheries programme. I would like to thank the EU for its continuous support of the region's fisheries for over the last two decades. Another 4 million will target agricultural exports - a new project aimed at increasing trade among Pacific Island Countries. The remaining 2 million will go towards financing the regions' EPA roadmap. Financing Proposals for all of the projects will be submitted by the middle of this year.
3. I would like to thank the European Union for its generosity in financing these initiatives, and also for its recent decision to untie aid in respect of international organisations (such as CROP) which implement EDF programmes. For the Pacific, the untying of aid will have an immediate and positive impact on project delivery.
4. As we move forward to the 10th EDF, a clear distinction to be made between the 9th EDF period and now is the existence of the Pacific Plan. As you know, the Pacific Plan, with its range of priority initiatives under the four inter-related goals of economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security, was adopted by the Forum Leaders at their annual meeting last October. These activities are now being progressed under management of the Forum Secretariat and political oversight and guidance of a Pacific Plan Action Committee, led by the Forum Chair, this year Papua New Guinea. There are obviously a number of aspects to this complex matter of implementation, but a good deal of it is going to get down to better coordination, something we have not, over the years always excelled at. Coordination among the member countries themselves, coordination with development partners (the Director General has spoken about how the consultative process might be developed) and among the existing regional organisations. We have embarked on specific consultations with our partners to this end. And because the regional organisations are playing a key role in the implementation of the Plan, we are strengthening our cooperative abilities by developing a regional institutional framework that is appropriate for these new approaches to regionalism. That is a complex subject in itself, but one that will need to be pursued with vigour if we are to make the most effective use of valuable regional resources.
5. It is my expectation that the 10th EDF regional programme will implement important elements of the Pacific Plan in areas where the EU has particular expertise and a particular interest, and I hope that today's meeting will result in a clear mutual understanding of the activities we will pursue together. In that connection, the interactions between the EDF programme and the ongoing EPA negotiations and between our relations with the EU and the other arrangements with other partners that are beginning to evolve are matters of particular interest to us.
6. Ladies and gentlemen, with these few remarks, I thank you and wish you well for the meeting.
28 Mar 2006 18:14:49 SPEECH FOR GREG URWIN,
SECRETARY GENERAL, FORUM SECRETARIAT
AT THE
EC-PACIFIC REGIONAL SEMINAR
Forum Secretariat, Main Conference Centre
9:00am Monday 27 March 2006
Honourable Ministers, Secretary General, ACP Secretariat, Director General, Mr Manservisi, National Authorising Officers, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the Forum Secretariat. Although the Forum Secretariat is not hosting this event, I do feel some responsibility for meeting arrangements so please let me know if there is anything the Secretariat can do to assist.
2. I would like to thank the previous speakers for their very pertinent remarks. It is my expectation that today's meeting will result in a better understanding of the range of programming needs all sides have, and that this will lead to an effective implementation of the 10th EDF. Last year we undertook the mid-term review of the 9th EDF Pacific Regional Programme, as a result of which an additional EURO 10 million was allocated to the 9th EDF Regional Programme and we shall be formalising this later in the day. These additional resources bring the total allocation to EUR 39 million back to the same as that received under the 6th EDF. Of the additional amount, 4 million will continue to support the South Pacific Community's oceanic fisheries programme. I would like to thank the EU for its continuous support of the region's fisheries for over the last two decades. Another 4 million will target agricultural exports - a new project aimed at increasing trade among Pacific Island Countries. The remaining 2 million will go towards financing the regions' EPA roadmap. Financing Proposals for all of the projects will be submitted by the middle of this year.
3. I would like to thank the European Union for its generosity in financing these initiatives, and also for its recent decision to untie aid in respect of international organisations (such as CROP) which implement EDF programmes. For the Pacific, the untying of aid will have an immediate and positive impact on project delivery.
4. As we move forward to the 10th EDF, a clear distinction to be made between the 9th EDF period and now is the existence of the Pacific Plan. As you know, the Pacific Plan, with its range of priority initiatives under the four inter-related goals of economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security, was adopted by the Forum Leaders at their annual meeting last October. These activities are now being progressed under management of the Forum Secretariat and political oversight and guidance of a Pacific Plan Action Committee, led by the Forum Chair, this year Papua New Guinea. There are obviously a number of aspects to this complex matter of implementation, but a good deal of it is going to get down to better coordination, something we have not, over the years always excelled at. Coordination among the member countries themselves, coordination with development partners (the Director General has spoken about how the consultative process might be developed) and among the existing regional organisations. We have embarked on specific consultations with our partners to this end. And because the regional organisations are playing a key role in the implementation of the Plan, we are strengthening our cooperative abilities by developing a regional institutional framework that is appropriate for these new approaches to regionalism. That is a complex subject in itself, but one that will need to be pursued with vigour if we are to make the most effective use of valuable regional resources.
5. It is my expectation that the 10th EDF regional programme will implement important elements of the Pacific Plan in areas where the EU has particular expertise and a particular interest, and I hope that today's meeting will result in a clear mutual understanding of the activities we will pursue together. In that connection, the interactions between the EDF programme and the ongoing EPA negotiations and between our relations with the EU and the other arrangements with other partners that are beginning to evolve are matters of particular interest to us.
6. Ladies and gentlemen, with these few remarks, I thank you and wish you well for the meeting.
