Supporting our Pacific family in engaging with the WTO

Minister for Trade and Tourism Senator the Hon Don Farrell and the Assistant Minister for Trade Senator the Hon Tim Ayres met with their counterparts from the Pacific in the margins of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva.

On 15 June, Australia and New Zealand co-hosted a meeting with Pacific Island counterparts attending MC12, including the Hon Faiyaz Koya, Minister for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport of Fiji; the Hon Leatinu’u Wayne So’oialo, Minister for Commerce, Industry and Labour, of Samoa and the Hon Jeremiah Manele, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Solomon Islands.

The meeting discussed opportunities for Pacific Island countries to enhance their participation in global and regional trade and benefit further from the multilateral rules-based trading system. During the meeting, Australia reaffirmed its commitment to ensure increased trade continues to support our Pacific family’s economic recovery from COVID-19. Ministers discussed the importance of ensuring that trade and environmental policies were mutually reinforcing.  Pacific Island countries welcomed the Australian government’s support for stronger action on climate change

In a separate meeting on 16 June with the Hon Jeremiah Manele, Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Solomon Islands, Minister Farrell highlighted the Australian Government’s strong commitment to working with Solomon Islands to promote its capacity to export, including through providing technical assistance in areas such as biosecurity.