[Press-releases] Press release - Tonga to host 6th Pacific Community Conference

[Rosita Hoffmann]

Press release

 

Tonga to host 6th Pacific Community Conference

 

Tuesday 13 November 2007, 5th Pacific Community Conference, Apia, Samoa
- Tonga will host the 6th Pacific Community Conference, to be held in
2009, with the hope of drawing attention to the needs of the island
kingdom.

 

The Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office of Tonga, Falekava
Kupu, said the Conference was last held in Nuku'alofa in 1991.

 

'And this is a long time ago. By 2009 it will have been close to 18
years since Tonga last hosted the meeting. It doesn't only bring
technical people together but, significantly, donors and service
providers,' Mr Kupu said. 'This is good because we can then draw these
people closer to the needs of people in our island kingdom.'

 

Mr Kupu's motion was supported by Fiji's Interim Health Minister and
Conference Representative, Dr Jona Senilagakali, as the 5th Pacific
Community Conference drew to a close in Apia, Samoa.

 

'The next meeting will provide us the opportunity to strengthen the
existing ties we have with SPC [the Secretariat of the Pacific
Community] and bind the Pacific Island countries and territories closer
together,' Mr Kupu said. 'In hosting the next Conference we are looking
at ways in which we can build on SPC's current projects in Tonga,
especially in areas of agriculture and fisheries, which are our focal
development programmes.' 

 

Tonga is looking at improving bilateral trade discussions and
capitalising on the experiences gained from other conferences and
meetings hosted on their shores. 'We would like to significantly
capitalise on SPC's expertise and take specialists to our rural and
isolated areas and outer islands for similar experiences,' said Mr Kupu.

 

For more information, including a copy of the presentation contact Ruci
Mafi, SPC correspondent for the 5th Pacific Community Conference, via
email: rucim at spc.int or by phone: +685 7222324. You can also check the
SPC website at www.spc.int.

 

Background information:

 

SPC's governing council is the Conference of the Pacific Community,
which meets every two years. In years when the Conference does not meet,
the Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations
(CRGA - a committee of the Conference) is empowered to make decisions.
The Government of Samoa is hosting the 2007 meetings of the SPC
governing body in Apia: the 37th Meeting of CRGA (7-9 November 2007) and
the 5th Conference of the Pacific Community (12-13 November 2007). The
5th Conference is also the 60th Anniversary Conference of SPC, as 2007
marks SPC's 60th year of service to the Pacific region.

 

SPC member countries and territories: American Samoa, Australia, Cook
Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji Islands, France, French
Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New
Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea,
Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United
States of America, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna.

 

 

 

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