21 Mar 2005

Wide level of interest in Pacific Plan as public consultation process continues

4:16 pm on 21 March 2005

The secretary general of the Pacific islands Forum, Greg Urwin, says he is very encouraged by the level of engagement at public consultations on the Pacific Plan.

The Plan aims to increase regional cooperation and integration.

A draft plan is circulating the region throughout March and April and so far has been open for public discussion in Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia, with discussions to start tomorrow in New Zealand.

Mr Urwin says there is a great deal of willingness to engage at the consultations with people showing a lot of interest in two specific matters.

"The means that we might be able to develop to make judgments about those areas where doing things regionally actually adds value as opposed continuing to do things by other means. The second thing is, I think, that there is a good deal of interest at the country level at just how what might be developed through the Pacific Plan connects with national development strategies."

Greg Urwin