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Pacific Islands Forum

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Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)
Location of Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)
Seat of SecretariatFiji Suva, Fiji
Member states
Leaders
• Forum Chair
New Zealand John Key
Samoa Tuiloma Neroni Slade
Establishment
• as South Pacific Forum
1971
• renamed Pacific Islands Forum
1999
Area
• Total
8,538,293 km2 (3,296,653 sq mi)
Population
• 2008 estimate
32.5 million
• Density
4/km2 (10.4/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)2008 estimate
• Total
US$929.263 billion¹ (2008)
• Per capita
US$28,543
HDI (2007/08)Increase 0.753¹
Error: Invalid HDI value (97th¹)
Currency
Time zone
Website
www.forumsec.org
  1. If considered a single entity

The Pacific Islands Forum is an inter-governmental organization that aims to enhance cooperation between the independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum. In 1999, the name was changed; Pacific Islands Forum is more inclusive of the Forum's Oceania-spanning membership of both north and south Pacific island countries and Australia. It is an official observer at the United Nations.

The mission of Pacific Islands Forum is “to work in support of Forum member governments, to enhance the economic and social well-being of the people of the South Pacific by fostering cooperation between governments and between international agencies, and by representing the interests of Forum members in ways agreed by the Forum”. Its decisions are implemented by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), which grew out of the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC). As well as its role in harmonising regional positions on various political and policy issues, the Forum Secretariat has technical programmes in economic development, transport and trade. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General is the permanent Chairman of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP).[1]

Australia and New Zealand are generally larger and wealthier than the other countries that make up the rest of the forum, Australia's population is around twice that of the other 15 members combined and its economy is more than five times larger. They are significant aid donors and big markets for exports from the other countries. Military and police forces as well as civilian personnel of Forum states, chiefly Australia and New Zealand, have recently been part of regional peacekeeping and stabilization operations in other states, notably Solomon Islands (2003-), Nauru (2004–2009), and Tonga (2006). Such regional efforts are mandated by the Biketawa Declaration, which was adopted at the 31st Summit of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, held at Kiribati in October 2000.

In September 2011, the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands were granted observer status in the Pacific Islands Forum.[2]

History

From August 5–7, 1971, the first meeting of the South Pacific Forum was initiated by New Zealand and held in Wellington, with attendants of seven countries including the President of Nauru, the Prime Ministers of Western Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, the Premier of the Cook Islands, the Australian Minister for External Territories, and the Prime Minister of New Zealand. It was a private and informal discussion of a wide range of issues of common concern, concentrating on matters directly affecting the daily lives of the people of the islands of the South Pacific, devoting particular attention to trade, shipping, tourism, and education. Afterwards this meeting was held annually in member countries and areas in turn. In 1999, the 30th South Pacific Forum decided to transform into Pacific Islands Forum, with more extensive and formal way of discussion and organization. Immediately after the forum’s annual meeting at head of government level, the Post Forum Dialogue (PFD) is conducted at ministerial level with PFD development partners around the world.

Suspension of Fiji

In August 2008, the Forum threatened to suspend Fiji if the latter did not commit to holding a general election by March 2009.[3] Subsequently, at a special leaders' meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, held in Papua-New Guinea in January 2009, Forum leaders set a deadline of 1 May, by which date Fiji must set a date for elections before the end of the year. Fiji rejected the deadline.[4] Consequently, on May 2, Fiji was suspended indefinitely from participation in the Forum with immediate effect.[5][6] Toke Talagi, the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum and Premier of Niue, described the suspension as "also particularly timely given the recent disturbing deterioration of the political, legal and human rights situation in Fiji since April 10, 2009".[7] He described Fiji as “a regime which displays such a total disregard for basic human rights, democracy and freedom” which he believed contravened membership of the Pacific Islands Forum.[7] Talagi emphasised, however, that Fiji had not been expelled and that it would be welcomed back into the fold when it returned to the path of "constitutional democracy, through free and fair elections".[7]

The 2009 suspension of Fiji marked the first time that a country had been suspended from the Pacific Islands Forum in the history of the then 38-year-old organization.[8]

Membership

Map indicating the members and observers of the Pacific Islands Forum

Member states[9]
 Australia (AU)  Kiribati (KI)  Palau (PW)  Solomon Islands (SB)
 Cook Islands (CK)  Nauru (NR)  Papua New Guinea (PG)  Tonga (TO)
 Micronesia (FM)  New Zealand (NZ)  Marshall Islands (MH)  Tuvalu (TV)
 Niue (NU)  Samoa (WS)  Vanuatu (VU)
Suspended members
 Fiji (FJ) (suspended since May 2, 2009)
Associate members Observers
 New Caledonia (NC)  French Polynesia (PF)  Tokelau (TK)  Timor-Leste (TL)
 Wallis and Futuna (WF)[10]  Guam (GU)
 United Nations Commonwealth of Nations
Asian Development Bank WCPFC
 American Samoa (AS)  Northern Mariana Islands (MP)
For abbreviations, see ISO 3166-1.
Dialogue partners
 Canada  China (CN)  Europe  France
 India  Indonesia (ID)  Japan  Italy
 South Korea  Malaysia (MY)  Philippines (PH)  Thailand
 United Kingdom  United States (US)

Taiwan assists in the development of members in the forum, and holds an annual dialogue conference with members of the forum.[11] Participation has been limited however, due to China being an official dialogue partner.[12]

Secretaries General

Main article: Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is appointed to a three-year term by the leaders of the member states.[13] The Secretary General reports directly to the national leaders and the Forum Officials' Committee (FOC).[13] The Secretary General also automatically serves as the permanent chairman of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP).[13]

Directors of the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation

  • Henry Naisali (Tuvalu) January 1986 – September 1988
  • Mahe Tupouniua (Tonga) January 1983 – January 1986
  • John Sheppard (Australia) (acting) 1982 – January 1983
  • Gabriel Gris (Papua New Guinea) 1980–1982 (died in office)
  • Mahe Tupouniua (Tonga) November 1972 – 1980
Library and archives building at the Secretariat complex in Suva, Fiji.

The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat was established initially as a trade bureau in 1972 and later became the South Pacific Bureau for Economic Co-operation (SPEC). The name South Pacific Forum Secretariat was approved by member governments in 1988 and changed to Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in 2000.

There are four divisions in the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, and each of these divisions has direct responsibility for a range of programs designed to improve the capacity of the Forum member countries and to co-ordinate action on matters of common interest:

  1. Development and Economic Policy
  2. Trade and Investment
  3. Political, International and Legal Affairs
  4. Corporate Services

Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement

See also: Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations and South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement

The Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement[15] (PICTA) aims to establish a free-trade area between fourteen of the Pacific Islands Forum countries. As of November 2006, it had been signed by twelve countries (not signed by Marshall Islands or Palau per PICTA status report):[16] Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. As of March 2008, six countries had announced that domestic arrangements had been made enabling them to trade under the agreement:[16] Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands,[17] Vanuatu.[18]

After entry into force, countries commit to remove tariffs on most goods by 2021. As of April 2008, The Forum Island Countries are also negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. It is important to note that the PICTA discussed here covers only trade of goods. As of April 2008, there is an ongoing negotiation to design and agree on a protocol to include trade in services and the temporary movement of natural persons (a broader concept than the GATS's Mode 4).[19]

The Office of the Chief Trade Adviser was established on 29 March 2010 to provide independent advice and support to the Pacific Forum Island Countries (FICs) in the PACER Plus trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand.

Recent works

An “open skies” policy has been under work by a number of nations. The Pacific Islands Air Services Agreement or PIASA would allow member nations to have more access for their airlines to other member countries. To date there have been ten signatories, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, while only six have ratified the agreement. These six are Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.

At the 19–20 August 2008 Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Niue, the leaders discussed Pacific Plan priorities including, “fisheries, energy, trade and economic integration, climate change and transport, in addition to information and communication technology, health, education, and good governance.” Leaders also discussed the impacts of climate change and adopted the Niue Declaration on Climate Change. Restoration of democratic governance in Fiji was discussed as were consequences should the interim government fail to meet established deadlines.[20] Regional assistance to the Solomon Islands and Nauru was discussed, followed by discussion of radioactive contamination in the Marshall Islands from US government tests. Regional institutional framework issues and WTO Doha round developments were discussed, followed by discussion of country-initiatives and the Pacific Region Infrastructure Facility launched 19 August 2008 to provide up to A$200 million over four years to help improve infrastructure in Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.[9] The United Nations announced that it would partner with Samoa to develop an Inter-Agency Climate Change Centre to help Pacific island nations combat the impacts of climate change in the region.[21]

Prospects

There has been a call from within both the Australian and New Zealand business communities to extend the CER (Closer Economic Relations) to other Pacific island nations, moving towards a single market and allowing the free movement of people and goods. A Pacific Union has been theorized as the next step of the forum.

See also

References

  1. ^ Unattributed. "About Us". Pacific Islands Forum web site. Pacific Islands Forum. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
  2. ^ "American Samoa's Tulafono pleased to be part of Pacific family". Radio New Zealand International. 2011-09-09. Retrieved 2011-09-16.
  3. ^ "Solomon's Prime Minister says all Forum members backed suspension threat". Radio New Zealand International. 24 August 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  4. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Portal:Oceania&oldid=234356903
  5. ^ Statement by Forum Chair on suspension of the Fiji military regime from the Pacific Islands Forum; PIFS Press Statement 21/09, 2 May 2009
  6. ^ "Chair of Pacific Islands Forum says Fiji has been suspended". Radio New Zealand International. 2 May 2009. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  7. ^ a b c "Fiji suspended from Pacific Islands Forum". Xinhua News Agency. 2009-05-02. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  8. ^ "Fiji isolated after election deadline expires". Australia Broadcasting Corporation. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
  9. ^ a b communique forum.pdf "Forum Communiqué, Alofi, Niue" (PDF). Thirty-Ninth Pacific Islands Forum. Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-08-22. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help) The Niue Declaration on Climate Change is Appendix B of this document.
  10. ^ Unattributed (2008-08-22). "Decision on Wallis bid to join Forum (as Associate Member) deferred". Latest Pacific News Headlines (in en_GB). Radio New Zealand International. Retrieved 2008-08-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  11. ^ http://www.forumsec.org/pages.cfm/newsroom/press-statements/2011/joint-statement-19th-taiwan-republic-of-china-forum-countries-dialogue.html?printerfriendly=true
  12. ^ "Taiwan calls on Pacific Forum to allow it to be a proper Dialogue Partner". Radio New Zealand International. 25 August 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  13. ^ a b c Vula, Timoci (2011-09-09). "Slade back at the helm". Fiji Times. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  14. ^ Fisher, Mue (2011-09-09). "Forum Leaders endorse Slade's second term as SG". PRESS STATEMENT (83/11). Forum Secretariat. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  15. ^ Full PICTA text
  16. ^ a b PICTA status report
  17. ^ "Solomon Islands Ready to Trade Under PICTA", Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
  18. ^ "Vanuatu ready to trade under PICTA", People's Daily Online
  19. ^ Pacific Trade in Services Negotiations - First Round, Pacific Island Forum Secretariat
  20. ^ Gao (2008-08-22). "Fiji ministers "angry" at Pacific Islands Forum's suspension warning". World. Xinhuanet. Retrieved 2008-08-23. "Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Pacific leaders were losing patience with Fiji's interim government. He said Australia will mobilize any resources necessary to restore democracy to Fiji."
  21. ^ Unattributed (2008-08-19). "UN to Help Pacific Island States Fight Climate Change". Environment News Service. Retrieved 2008-08-23.


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