2 Sep 2013

Pacific leaders to be urged to relaunch revitalised Pacific Plan

1:44 pm on 2 September 2013

Pacific heads of state meeting in Majuro this week will be urged to breathe new life into the eight-year-old Pacific Plan by re-launching it as a "framework for regional integration."

The deputy secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Feleti Teo, says former Papua New Guinea prime minister Sir Mekere Morauta will present the findings of a nearly year-long review of the plan to Forum leaders on Wednesday in Majuro.

He says it is expected that the report will call for a major overhaul of the Pacific Plan to inject some energy into it.

The Pacific Plan was put in place in 2005 with the dual aim of fostering regional cooperation and integration.

In a preliminary report last month, Sir Mekere, said what the Plan needs is the re-establishment of a robust political process around regionalism.

He said present governance structures don't ensure the right outcomes, while incentives, usually financial, end up shaping the agenda.

Sir Mekere said the Forum, as the peak political body in the Pacific, has a huge role, but must adapt.