Pacific Scoop PIF Coverage
Colourful Pacific Forum in Cook Islands ‘grandest ever’ opening
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Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard sits regally as she is carried on a traditional paata into the official opening of the 43rd Pacific Leaders Forum at the National Auditorium tonight. Image: Cook Islands News
Pacific Scoop:
Report – By the Pacific Media Centre news desk and Cook Islands News
All of the 15 Forum country leaders – minus suspended Fiji – in the Cook Islands for the week-long Pacific Islands Forum tonight received a turou challenge from a warrior.
They were carried to the National Auditorium entrance on a paata followed by children from their adopted schools.
Once in the packed auditorium, leaders received rousing cheers befitting rock stars with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and New Zealand PM John Key getting the mightiest cheers of welcome.
A visiting veteran journalist said that the ceremony put on by the people of the Cook Islands for the leaders was the “grandest ever” in the Forum’s 43-year history, according to the Cook Islands News.
Officially opening the meeting,Forum Secretary-General Tuiloma Neroni Slade said the region faced unprecedented challenges and Pacific people were looking to their leaders for guidance.
“Economic growth of the Forum countries continues to be lower than potential growth performance, climate change remains the single greatest threat, and the achievement of the millennium development goals is unheeded,” Tuiloma said.
“There is a host of others.
United identity
“My call for a united regional identity as ‘large ocean- island states’ is not a new one,” Tuiloma said.
“The cohesion and commitment of our members and peoples are key to the success of our pursuit of regional accomplishments, including our collective role as protectors of our Pacific Ocean and its resources.
“This is no mean feat. It is the Pacific challenge we face – and it is our major contribution to the well-being of humanity.”
Advancing their regional identity as Small Island Developing States to Large Ocean Island States would be key to realising a change in how the Pacific and the world managed the resources of the Pacific Ocean.
“In doing so, we will not lose sight of our special island uniqueness but augment it with a more balanced, and committed view of ocean and islands,” he said.
Many news media speculated this week on how regional rivalry between China and the US – sending its largest ever delegation led by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton – might impact on the Forum.
“China’s influence is a huge issue around the region,” wrote TVNZ’s Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver today on her blog.
Mortgaged to China
“Several Pacific countries are mortgaged to the hilt to China as a result of accepting a seemingly endless supply of soft loans.
“There’s a history of Pacific politics being influenced by China and huge amounts of Chinese money is flowing into a region that for the most part lacks resources,” said Dreaver, who was a prominent journalist in the Cook Islands for eight years.
“You bet [this Forum] is about China and you bet the media will be covering in depth the unprecedented visit of Secretary Hillary Clinton.”
This item is republished courtesy of Pacific.Scoop.co.nz.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed in this media release item do not necessarily represent the views of 36th Parallel Assessments.
