Pacific leaders seek more say

Transcript

Pacific leaders want more say in their region and this was a key element in discussions earlier the month in Noumea when regional agencies got together.

The meeting of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific, the CROP agencies, discussed the Framework for Pacific Regionalism.

This Framework was a product of a review of the Pacific Islands Forum's Pacific Plan, and it calls for manageable priorities, that are timely, simple, transparent and inclusive.

The reviewers of the Plan say the Framework demands game changing interventions in support of a new regional politic.

And the Forum secretary general, Dame Meg Taylor, who has been in the role for just nine weeks, told Don Wiseman that at the heart of a deepened regionalism is clear control by Pacific leaders of the regional agenda.

MEG TAYLOR: What the Framework was saying was that the political leadership of the Pacific has to take and make some tough decisions about what are the priorities for this region. What are the high political and economic issues where the resources should be put into and the leadership in the Pacific and the members of the PIF make these decisions about what are the priorities. The Framework emphasises the fact that there is a great push by donors and partners to define the agenda and the priorities for this region and a shift that needs to be made, a new paradigm in how we see the development of the agenda.

DON WISEMAN: We're talking Pacific leaders setting the agenda, rather than the donors?

MT: Exactly.

DW: I know you've only just got your feet under the desk but do you have an idea at this point just what those key issues are likely to be?

MT: No. I have issues that I think are very important but then they are not the issues that the process flushes out that are important. If we look at issues like telecommunications and the linkages through the region - that's a very high priority. Fisheries, climate, the work that is being done on climate, and there have been suggestions before I joined and there have been discussions since I have been in the position that there is a competition between the regional agencies to get the funding for the climate issues that face us. And this meeting in Noumea has really been very productive in the sense of laying it out with each other what the issues are and trying to find the common ground for working together because in the end the results have to be for our people and our Government.

DW: But a lot of those things in things in terms of climate change, fisheries, communication development - that work is being done and it is being done by organisations that are not the Pacific Islands Forum. And one would have to wonder whether there actually is a role for an organisation like the Forum?

MT: The Forum's role is - it's not just a co-ordinating role on the political issues and on the economic issues that are arising. It plays a big role on the trade negotiations and it needs to capture, in my view, an area of work really around the economic issues and its relationship with some of the bigger institutions in the region like the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank and the European Union and particularly on issues around economic development. I think there is a gap in the region in terms of the work that is being done ensuring that regulatory frameworks, if countries want advice on that, looking at the financial architecture of the region - that kind of work needs to be done. We need to be redefining ourselves as to where we can serve best, supporting the other regional organisations and there is co-operation between PIF and the other regional organisations. I came to Noumea apprehensive about my first meeting of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific and I am leaving very positive after two very good days of work and I think that throughout the region there is very little understanding of really the work that is being done and I think we have to do much better in our communications policy for all the CROP agencies.