Pacific Islands Forum to continue to dialogue, engage with Fiji

The Pacific Islands Forum's Ministerial Contact Group concluded its two-day visit to Fiji on Saturday, saying the visit is consistent with the mandate of Pacific Islands Forum leaders to continue to dialogue and engage with Fiji. In a statement, the Ministerial Contact Group said it welcomes "significant progress" made by Fiji since it last visited in April last year, including "important and significant efforts" to prepare for elections by Sept. 30 this year. "Welcoming the progress Fiji has made towards elections and a return to parliamentary democracy, and recognizing the importance of greater regional trade and economic integration, the ministers agreed to recommend to forum leaders that Fiji be invited to participate in PACER (Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations) Plus negotiations and forum trade ministers' meetings at the ministerial level," the statement said. It said the ministers discussed with the forum secretary general steps for welcoming Fiji's full participation in the forum following Fiji's September election, in accordance with the spirit and intent of the Biketawa Declaration. The Ministerial Contact Group is chaired by New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully and includes Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop, who visited Fiji for the first time since taking up the post, as well as ministers from Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Fiji has been suspended from the Pacific Islands Forum since May 2009 after the 2006 coup, by which the country's current Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, a naval officer, took power. The Fijian government has pledged to hold a general election by the end of September this year, and Bainimarama has said that he will resign as commander of the military forces to prepare for the upcoming general election. According to Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus negotiations "offer an opportunity to help Pacific Islands Forum countries benefit from enhanced regional trade and economic integration". Pacific Islands Forum leaders launched negotiations on PACER Plus at their 40th meeting in August 2009. Fiji is currently not a participant in the PACER Plus negotiations.