Prime Minister Bainimarama is leading a Fijian delegation to the Second Session of the Assembly of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. IRENA aims to promote the widespread, increased adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy. Acting as the global voice for renewable energies, IRENA works to facilitate access to all relevant renewable energy information, including technical data, economic data and renewable resource potential data. IRENA also works to share experiences on best practices and lessons learnt regarding policy frameworks, capacity-building projects, available finance mechanisms, renewable energy and related energy efficiency measures.
IRENA was established in Bonn, Germany in 2009, and 148 states together with the European Union have signed the Statute of the Agency. Fiji ratified the IRENA Statute in November 2010.
Prior to the Prime Minister's attendance at IRENA, a Pacific Leaders Meeting will be held on January 13 to focus on the deployment of renewable energy in the Pacific region. IRENA has developed Renewable Energy Country Profiles for the Pacific Region which provides a concise picture of the state of renewable energy, including electricity capacity, access and renewable energy policies, targets, projects and endowments. Through the preparation of country specific renewable energy reports, IRENA will be able to provide informed inputs to existing regional action plans, and bring together partners to support the action plans' implementation, including providing solutions for energy access.
The Assembly will be from January 14-15, 2012, and will take decisions on the strategic plan for the agency and the proposed 2012 Work Programme and budget as submitted by the Director-General.
IRENA is just one of many international events the Prime Minister attends throughout the year to promote Fiji on the global level. Prime Minister Bainimarama late last year led a delegation to the International Sugar Organization (ISO) (ISO) 20th International Seminar and the International Sugar Council (ISC) (ISC) meeting in London and was elected Vice Chairman of the International Sugar Council. Prior to that, he led another delegation to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Telecom 2011 Summit where he shared with the forum the many achievements Fiji has made in the areas of ensuring Fijians have access to information and communications technology (ICT).
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