Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Dame Meg Taylor, is visiting Vanuatu this week.
Dame Taylor says her visit to Vanuatu is to consult with various arms of the Vanuatu Government as well as speak at a symposium at the University of the South Pacific about China in the Pacific.
“I’ve had meetings with both the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
“I’ve also sat down with key government officials to look at key issues that are of concern to them.
“This for us is a way of getting and understanding of what is the thinking of people in the region.
“We’ve also had a team here with us to looking at the governance arrangements and the functional aspects of the Pacific Resilience Facility.
“This is a Fund that the Finance Ministers want set up and it has been endorsed by the Leaders.
“That is to raise a substantial amount of money that we would, as countries, as private sector and also communities to be able to utilize to ensure that we are investing in infrastructure that will be able to withstand climatic impacts.
“Also to refit old infrastructure,” she told Kizzy Kalsakau from 96 Buzz FM.
Dame Taylor says Vanuatu is important in such conversation because after Cyclone Pam 64% of the GDP of this country was lost.
“That cannot happen again.
“We have to make sure that we find instruments so that Vanuatu protects itself and takes action for itself,” the Forum Secretariat SG said.
The Forum SG says she is also here because she has been invited to speak at a symposium on China in the Pacific at the University of the South Pacific’s Emalus Campus today.
“For us it is very important because of a number of our member states that recognize the People’s Republic of China.
“The challenges, opportunities- so I’ll be addressing that tomorrow (today) morning at the University of the South Pacific.”
Source: DailyPost
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