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Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, LVO, OBE, MSD, OStJ, CSM Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Civil Aviation OPENING ADDRESS AT THE NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS FOR ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (EPA) AND PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES TRADE AGREEMENT (PICTA) Focussing on Fisheries, Sugar, Trade in Services and other Topical Trade Issues & Negotiations Hotel Southern Cross, Suva Wednesday, 18th June, 2008 Distinguished Experts, Officials of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Leaders of Industries, Civil Society & Non-Government Organisations Civil Servants Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning. I am delighted to welcome you all to the Fiji National Consultations on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) - focusing on fisheries, sugar, trade in services and other topical trade issues & negotiations. I am encouraged by the presence of Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat experts, private sector representatives, NGO Representatives and top national experts on various sectors of our economy. I am privileged and honoured to be here to open this national consultation. Your presence here today is testimony to your own recognition of the crucial role your different organisations have played and will continue to play in partnership with government in the formulation of Fiji’s trade policies; policies which are crucial to the development of our economy and our people as a nation. This national consultation is very opportune and timely. As the agenda of the meeting reminds us, Fiji is currently engaging in a series of regional and multilateral trade negotiations. The outcomes of these negotiations will fundamentally alter the trade policy direction of the nation and pose new opportunities as well as serious challenges to all stakeholders in Fiji. In the 21st century of globalisation, the debate on the link between trade liberalisation and sustainable development is a hot topic amongst scholars and development experts. Some have argued that economic integration in the global economy can be a source of prosperity and poverty reduction. Many fear, however, that trade liberalization, if not managed properly may harm the disadvantaged people within society and further marginalize poorer states. Furthermore, unfettered economic globalisation, especially when the multilateral trade rules are inherently Unfair and subject to countervailing influence by powerful countries, could have serious side-effects for many developing countries, particularly to small island states like Fiji. It is timely therefore that all stakeholders in Fiji begin to understand the implications of the various trade negotiations that Fiji is currently participating in and assist Fiji in the preparatory work, including the prioritisation of national trade development needs. Hence, the national consultations beginning today. In the two and a half days ahead of us, it is our objective to actively engage all of you in a highly interactive exchange of views and opinions; in optimising a unique opportunity such as this to hear out the often neglected voices of the people which you represent. During this consultation, experts from the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and our national experts will present updates and their insights on current trade negotiations and developments and will focus on PICTA and PICTA trade In services, the comprehensive and interim EPA with the EU and future trading relations with Australia & New Zealand, commonly referred to as PACER plus. I am confident that the presentations in this consultation and the discussions that they will ensue will be stimulating. I am also hopeful that the recommendations put forward at this national consultation will help the Fiji government to formulate its approaches and negotiating strategies in the various trade arrangements in the region and beyond. The national consultations over the next few days are significant in that they will provide a sound basis upon which government will formulate Fiji’s national positions in our ongoing trade negotiations with the European Union and on trade in services with our very own pacific island neighbours under PICTA in the next Pacific-ACP ministerial meeting in July this year, which is scheduled to be held in Rarotonga, the Cook Islands. As it is the case with governments all over the world, the discharge of the trade negotiations itself will remain to be the domain of government. However, this irrefutable fact does not in any conceivable way dilute the vital importance of your contributions in the coming days. In fact, your role is important in revamping the rather traditional conceptualisation of the role of government in trade policy formulation. Ladies And Gentlemen, it is my hope that by the end of these consultations, your contributions will help us mould trade policies which are custom-made to Fiji’s unique social and economic profile. I fully acknowledge that there are no water-tight formulas in achieving this objective. However, this should not prevent us from plunging in and with every determined stroke should get us closer to the point proposed – our objective. I wish to underline the importance of the need for us to work together. This is more important now than ever before. My Pacific ministerial colleagues and I were concerned with the absence of the Pacific Islands Forum secretariat at the 87th session of the ACP Council of Ministers and The 33rd ACP-EC Council of Ministers, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last week. The other two regions, namely Africa and the Caribbean, were ably assisted by their respective regional organisations on EPA issues. Also, in early may this year at the Asia Pacific meeting on armed violence and development, held in Bangkok, Thailand, the Forum was not represented. These oversights must be corrected. We all look forward to a refreshing and contemporary wave of opinions and concepts on how best we can formulate trade policies which could be translated into Sustainable Development that achieves the ultimate objective of all: The prosperity of a nation which is evident in the uplifting of the living standards of people locked-in at the lowest rung of Fiji’s social ladder. I would like to leave you with a quote from a renowned writer, Mr John Gardner who said that, “...The citizen can bring our political and governmental institutions back to life, make them responsive and accountable, and keep them honest. no one else can.” Finally, let me thank all the participants here today for availing yourselves here despite your busy schedules. I would also like to thank the hardworking experts of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat for their smooth organisation and initiative that have made today's national consultation possible. Thank you all very much for your attention and I now have the great honour to declare the national consultations open. ******************** |
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