Minister attends Pacific Forum economic talks

Associate Finance Minister Simon Power is representing New Zealand at the 14th Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers' Meeting (FEMM) in Niue this week.

The meeting is one of the major annual Forum events as it brings together Economic and Finance Ministers from across the Pacific Islands, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

This year's meeting will focus on the overarching theme of “Broadening the Economic Base” in Forum member countries.

The meeting is also expected to discuss:

• Progress made by the Forum Fisheries Ministers on the issue of improving returns from the region’s fisheries sector.
• A Roadmap aimed at strengthening public finance management, including expenditure management, revenue, procurement, accountability and monitoring systems in Forum Island Countries. This was one of the deliverables under the Cairns Compact on Strengthening Development Coordination.
• Options to improve access to, and management of resources for responding to climate-change.
• How to improve opportunities for private sector growth in the region.

Ministers will be presented with an overview of the key issues on improving revenue collection in Forum Island Countries with reference to addressing the impacts of the global economic crisis and trade liberalisation, which was a mandate from the 2009 FEMM. The 2009 meeting focused on policy responses to the Global Economic Crisis.

Mr Power said the meeting presents a valuable opportunity to underline New Zealand’s commitment to the Pacific and to strengthen relationships with Economic Ministers from across the region.

“It will also be a good chance to share our experiences of how we responded to the global economic crisis."

The meeting will be chaired by the Premier of Niue, and Ministers and delegation heads from Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu are expected to attend.

ENDS

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