Solomon Islands attended the Sixth Pacific Tuna Forum in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from the 13th – 14th September 2017. The biennial event was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Honourable Peter O’Neill.
The Tuna forum under the theme of “Fostering Greater Social, Economic and Financial Benefits through Sustainable Tuna Management and Development” considered the status of the tuna stock, recent development in tuna management and policies, investment opportunities for small and medium scale entrepreneur, current trend in tuna trade and market, development in tuna processing and technology, social responsibility and the eco-labelling issues.
Several speakers from the Regional Technical Organisations in the Pacific, the fishing Industries, Superannuation fund and Government Representatives provided different perspectives of the tuna industry, investment opportunities and share their country experiences over the two days.
The Solomon Islands High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea His Excellency Mr Barnabas Anga joined as part of the delegation.
His Excellency expressed his gratitude to the Solomon Islands delegation and thanked the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources for the leadership. “I'm very encouraged to see emerging leaders taking proactive roles in such events, especially in this case, in one of our potential industries for real economic growth” said Mr Anga.
Delegates from the Pacific, Asia, USA, South America, Europe, the Middle East plus stakeholders from the fishing industries attended the two days forum.
The Pacific Tuna Forum also coincided with the first Pacific Seafood and Technology Exposition which Solomon Islands participated as well.
The Solomon Islands delegation attending the forum included officials from the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, the fishing industry and the private sector.