Regional economic ministers to meet: “the sense of urgency is real”

The 2022 Forum Economic Ministers Meeting which gets underway in Vanuatu this week will see regional ministers and officials discuss post-Covid economic recovery, alongside improved access to important dialogues for the

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Remembering Dr Majorie Crocombe: Puna

Across the Pacific, from the smallest atolls to the busiest cities, from the sleepy silences to the never-ending online chat streams, wherever there is an educated or Pacific-facing leader, thinker or creative, there is

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Forum stabilises, but hard problems remain

It was a busy time in Suva this month, as Presidents and Prime Ministers arrived in the Fijian capital for the 51st Pacific Islands Forum. Well, most of them – the absence of key Micronesian leaders and the withdrawal

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“We want to engage with our neighbours”

New Caledonia at the Pacific Islands Forum “The future of New Caledonia is not in Europe – the future of New Caledonia is in the Pacific region.” That’s President Louis Mapou, the first pro-independence Kanak

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No justice for West Papua at PIF

The plight of West Papuans received little focus at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting this year, however independence leader, Benny Wenda remains confident their time will come. London-based Wenda recently

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Samoa at PIF2022: on gender and geopolitics

Samoa’s Fiame Naomi Mata’afa is attending her first Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting as Prime Minister in Suva this week. As leaders gather for their retreat today, Islands Business contributor, Sera

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Cook Islands: “Uphold the decision making process of our Forum leaders”

The Cook Islands representative to the Pacific Islands Forum, Tepaeru Herrmann says they respect Kiribati’s decision to withdraw from the Forum, but that upholding the decision to appoint former Henry Puna to the

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Historic deals on maritime boundaries at the Forum

Many Pacific island states are really large ocean states, with vast Exclusive Economic Zones. As local enterprises and overseas corporations seek to exploit the region’s vast ocean resources – from fisheries to deep

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Legal jostling over Marshall Islands’ Forum status derailing unity efforts

Marshall Islands President David Kabua will not be in Suva for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting this week because  members of his own government have “derailed” an effort to reverse the country’s

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“We absolutely must preserve the unity of the Forum”

French Polynesia at the regional summit For Jean-Christophe Bouissou, Vice President of French Polynesia, the 51st Pacific Islands Forum is an opportunity to highlight the ongoing challenge of climate change for the

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Forum leaders meet to consolidate Blue Pacific agenda

For the first time since 2019, presidents and prime ministers from around the region will gather face-to-face in Suva this week, to continue the 51st Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting. The centrepiece of the summit

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Forum mission questions credibility of New Caledonia referendum

Last December, the Pacific Islands Forum sent a ministerial mission to New Caledonia, to monitor the conduct of the third referendum on self-determination under the Noumea Accord. Their report, obtained by Islands

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