Business
Stock Take Reveals Weaknesses In FEMM
Leaders urged to 'speak honestly'
So what happens to decisions that are made at the various meetings held annually within the South Pacific region?
Are they implemented or do they just gather dust in the respective countries until just weeks before the next meeting, then senior government officials rush around to see what is on the agenda for the next meeting, and how far they have gone to implement these decisions?
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Well, the sixth Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) that was held in Port Vila, Vanuatu last month, was tasked to look at this very issue. The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat was given the task of conducting a regional stock take of whether or not members have been implementing the decisions that have been made since the first FEMM in 1997.
The Forum Secretariat was given the task during the fifth FEMM in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in 2001 and to submit its findings at the Port Vila meeting. The result of the stock take was one of the two major agenda items for the Port Vila meeting. The other was the partnership between the private sector and public sector in the region.
Finance Ministers in a joint statement at the end of the meeting said that good progress had been made in many areas, despite constraints in human and financial capacity. Forum secretary general, Noel Levi was not that diplomatic in his opening address.
He said the sixth FEMM provided members with the opportunity to re-visit past performances in terms of implementing FEMM decisions. Levi told the regional leaders and officials that "we need to speak honestly about these constraints if we are to find ways of overcoming them.
"I can't help note that only six of the 16 members responded to the stock take questionnaire. I wonder if this is a reflection of the level of commitment to the FEMM process," Levi said in his opening remarks.
"I therefore pose a question: Is there a problem of lack of ownership over the FEMM agenda and decisions, as suggested by the stock take report?
"What is causing such a weak sense of ownership? Is it that the secretariat and few of the members are driving the process too much without sufficient regard for the needs of others needing more time and support?"
He then asked how FEMM could be made to better reflect the interests of all member states. He urged the ministers to give serious thoughts on how to improve this. All member countries sent representatives to the Port Vila meeting, including Australia and New Zealand.
The donor agencies or Pacific Islands countries partners also sent high-level delegations to the meeting, with both the Asian Development Bank and World Bank sending their respective regional vice presidents to attend the meeting. The World Bank's vice president of East Asia and the Pacific region, Jemal-ud-din Kassum commended the region for the initiative to undertake the stock take.
Kassum said the stock take report indicated that progress with individual reform programmes across the region "is at best mixed".
"It has also identified a range of barriers that reduce the effectiveness of FEMM, including a weak link between issues discussed and national planning and priority setting, limited dissemination of outcomes and insufficient cross-ministerial co-ordination," he said.
"This is a remarkably frank assessment and I compliment you on such a candid approach."
Australia became the sixth country to ratify the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER), joining the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa. It will come into force once seven members have ratified it.
The PACER sets out the basis for the future development of trade relations among all 16 Forum members and also gives assurance to Australia and New Zealand that they would not be disadvantaged in Forum Islands countries' markets as a result of arrangements the Forum member countries might conclude with other countries.
The separate Pacific Islands Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) sets up a free trade area over 10 years among Forum member countries, but initially excludes Australia and New Zealand. PICTA requires six ratifications and currently has four - the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.
However, Forum officials were confident PACER and PICTA would be fully ratified during the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Suva, Fiji this month.
