24 Feb 2005

Goodwill seen as the vital element if Pacific Plan on closer links is to work

7:03 pm on 24 February 2005

The President of Kiribati, Anote Tong, says Pacific states, which are now assessing the draft Pacific Plan on ways to achieve closer regional links, will want to see that their individual needs are catered for.

Submissions are now being sought on the Pacific Plan but Mr Tong says much of the content is familiar to Pacific countries.

He says there will be no single project that can address the concerns of all the states but he says to succeed, the Plan will require goodwill and this must be unconditional.

"what I am talking about is genuine commitment to something that will eventually benefit all. I think there are a lot of examples. I think the very straightforward one is there are those countries that can afford to sacrifice more and still be much better off than the others - that is the nature of development."