Attendees of the Pacer Plus free trade agreement summit in Niue Photo: Pacer Plus
For the first time officials representing the countries in the Pacer Plus free trade agreement are meeting face-to-face due to Covid preventing any meetings.
The regional governance meeting is being held this week on Niue.
Eight island nations have ratified the Pacer Plus deal on trade in goods and services - Niue, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Tonga, along with Australia and New Zealand.
Another six Pacific nations are parties to the agreement.
The Pacer Plus Implementation Unit's Roy Lagolago said this week's meeting was the first time they had been able to get together face-to-face because of Covid-19 shutdowns.
He said they were discussing progress on implementation and the budget for the coming year.
"It's actually going to be a really exciting three days for everyone to meet each other rather than over some screen, so we will probably have a better talanoa with all the officials here.
"It's always hard trying to discuss something virtually, so it's going to be really good and interesting two days and we are hoping to get a lot achieved."
While on Niue the advisors have been working through the island's requirements and achievements so far under Pacer Plus.
One advisor, Alisi Holani, said the trade in services element of the agreement included a development co-operation package that could provide the strategic support which could make the most of the key advantages Niue had.
She said it would be particularly useful for Niue's crucial tourism sector.
Holani also said the transition to digital trade was a winner on the island because most of the business in Niue was already e-commerce driven.
"And so there is this huge potential to drive digital trade and increase Niue's participation in digital trade, especially in e-commerce given that it is such a small country and the Pacific Plus agreement in services and investment provides an enabling environment that looks at how we can get those regulations and policies in place," she said.
They have also been helping Niue businesses overcome hurdles to exporting.
Roy Lagolago said Pacer Plus could help in diverse ways, such as providing glass moulds to Niue honey producers to help them reduce costs and make their own glass containers.
He said they had also helped exporters with with labelling and meeting standards so they could access markets in New Zealand and Australia.
"For countries like Niue trying to get access into markets like Australia or New Zealand and hopefully onto other markets like the UK and EU - these things are important for them to be able to get their products onto the shelves.
"You have got to have the right labelling to meet the standards in New Zealand or Australia and those are very important."
Photo: Pacer Plus
