..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 24 November 2006
Press Release No: G/58/EPOC/1/2006

UN urged to broker closer links between Asia-Pacific countries

First session of Working Group on Pacific Island Developing Countries meets in Fiji

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services) – In its inaugural meeting held on 23 November in Suva, Fiji, the Working Group on Pacific Island Developing Countries urged UNESCAP to broker closer links between Asia-Pacific countries, so that Pacific island developing countries could benefit from the economic dynamism of Asia.

The first session of the Working Group, organized by UNESCAP’s Pacific Operations Centre (UN-EPOC), was opened by Mr. Amena Yauvoli, Fiji’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade. Participants included seven High Commissioners and Ambassadors of Pacific island developing countries, representatives of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and the South Pacific Community, and the United Nations Resident Coordinator.

The Working Group also reviewed UNESCAP’s work programme for the Pacific, advised on future development priorities, and emphasized the importance of effective coordination of UN and donor programmes in the Pacific.

Mr. Hervé Berger, Head of UNESCAP Pacific Operations Centre, reinforced this point, and told the gathering that “achieving our objectives cannot be done on our own. In keeping with the ongoing UN Reform we are working in collaboration with other UN agencies in the Pacific as well as with Pacific regional organizations such as the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.”

The Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) is the regional arm of the United Nations for Asia and the Pacific. Its representative office - the UNESCAP Pacific Operations Centre (UN-EPOC) - is based in Suva, Fiji, and covers 13 countries and 9 territories in the Pacific.

For further information please contact:
UNESCAP Pacific Operations Centre
Tel: + (679) 3319 669
Fax: + (679) 3319 671,
E-mail: epoc@un.org
www.unescap.org/epoc

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