Pacific Scoop PIF Coverage
PNG keen on engaging with Pacific on climate change, other issues
Rua
PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill pledges to “deliver” to the nation following the recent election. Image: Henry Yamo/PMC
Pacific Scoop:
Report – By Henry Yamo on Rarotonga
Papua New Guinea is keen to engage with other Pacific countries on many issues – including climate change – that have an impact on all countries in the region, says Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.
But the government was also equally keen to engage with development partners as well and looking forward to doing that at the Pacific Islands Forum, he told journalists in the Cook Islands yesterday.
“However, coming to the Forum on the back of an election, we also have specific agendas which we took to the elections and need to be addressed at the country level,” he said.
He said internal issues included the government giving particular attention to education, health, law and order and fighting corruption within the country.
“We also need infrastructure to continue to maintain the growth of our economy and maintaining and ensuring the fiscal economy continues to deliver a better outcome that our country deserves,” he said.
O’Neill said some agendas might be too large and considered to be too ambitious at times but his government believed it could deliver over the next five years.
“So we came to the Forum keen to engage with all the other countries and development partners in terms of regional trade, security and migrations, he said.
Labour mobility
He said PNG was also interested in partnerships that would enable labour mobility within the region and he would pursue these over the next few days.
Similar issues were also discussed at the Small Island State leaders (SIS) meeting yesterday at the Edgewater Resort.
Speaking during the opening of the SIS leaders meeting, Forum General-Secretary Tuiloma Neroni Slade said the scheduling of this meeting was significant.
“Being the first in the series of meetings of Forum Leaders this week, it provides the opportunity ahead of other meetings for you strategically to caucus and reflect on the issues of particular importance to the Smaller Island States,” he said.
Tuiloma said such a meeting also served to reinforce and to highlight the recognition of the smaller island states in the Pacific as the most vulnerable among Forum members.
The SIS comprises the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna.
Henry Yamo is a postgraduate communication studies student at AUT University reporting with the Cook Islands News team.
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.
