A global inter-governmental organization that promotes green growth is intending to set up a regional office in Suva.
At its courtesy meeting today with Fiji's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, the delegation from the Global Green Growth Institute (GGI) in Seoul, Korea expressed its intention to serve the Pacific Island countries that are members of the Institute through an office that it hopes to establish soon in Fiji.
The GGI delegation, who are in the country on their first Pacific mission, is led by Dr Imran Habib Ahmad, the Director East Asia Pacific Green Growth Planning and Implementation. Dr Ahmad informed Ratu Inoke that the Pacific office would look after its regional members, which includes Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and Fiji.
Ratu Inoke assured the delegation that as a member of GGI, the Fijian Government would assist in whatever way it could to enhance the GGI's objectives.
Dr Ahmad highlighted that climate finance could be utilised for the implementation of the Green Growth Transformation Framework and shared how the Institute could assist Fiji in accessing those climate funds through the Green Climate Fund readiness support mechanisms.
During their four-day visit in Fiji, the delegation will be holding discussions with various Government stakeholders such as the Strategic Planning Office, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and other non-governmental stakeholders such as the Pacific Islands Development Forum.
GGGI is an international organisation which is inter-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder in nature, driven by the needs of emerging and developing countries. It was established by forward-thinking governments to maximize the opportunity for 'bottom-up' progress on climate change and other environmental challenges within core economic policy and business strategies.
The Institute is designed to be an open, global platform to support experimentation and collective learning by developing countries.