The leaders of 56 member countries in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) have indicated their attendance at October’s conference including three monarchs.
Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa gave a rundown on the details and current preparations from the Government for the conference in a press conference on Tuesday.
Chairing the CHOGM Taskforce, the Prime Minister fronted the media with several heads of government ministries and senior officials.
Mata’afa said the three monarchs are from the United Kingdom (UK), Brunei Darussalam and Eswantini.
She added a separate but related programme for the visit of their majesties is near finalisation.
The Government has already allocated $40 million (US$14.76 million) for hosting the CHOGM conference not including assistance in-kind from donor partners.
Mata’afa said expenditure is confirmed but revenue generated from hosting the 56 members’ countries can only be forecasted and not certain.
There are 40 special events other than the meetings during CHOGM week and include side events related to the theme of the conference.
Some of these events are open to the public and will be held at venues outside the formally designated venues.
The Samoa CHOGM theme is One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Commonwealth.
Prime Minister Mata’afa said the chosen theme will allow us to look at all the key pillars of the Commonwealth through a resilience lens.
“We strongly believe that we should focus on solutions and accelerated action,” she told the media.
“We speak from the collective experience of the Blue Pacific Continent, where our Pacific Islands Forum Leaders have declared climate change as the single greatest threat to the security and well-being of our people; where the ocean makes up 96 percent of our Blue Pacific region; and where we are amongst the first to most immediately suffer the impacts of climate change.”
This is not the first time the Pacific hosted a CHOGM, but it is the first time a Pacific Island country like Samoa will play host.
Australia hosted CHOGMs in 1981, 2002, and 2011 and New Zealand hosted in 1995.
Vanuatu was scheduled to host the CHOGM in 2017 but rescinded its offer after Cyclone Pam devastated the country’s infrastructure in March 2015.
Mata’afa said these are the realities of our countries and it is why the Commonwealth Aiga is important to us.
As host and incoming Chair of the Commonwealth, she said Samoa has an important opportunity to bring a unique perspective to the table and to contribute and influence discussions on all aspects of political and socio-economic development.
“Consistent with the spirit of our Commonwealth Aiga, and guided by the Fa’asamoa, my government and I and the people of Samoa eagerly anticipate welcoming the Commonwealth family to our island home and to our Blue Pacific Continent,” said PM Mata’afa.
Meanwhile, villagers of Siumu will have the rare opportunity to meet King Charles III in October, a request the monarch has made ahead of his arrival for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).