---

Aid For Trade Workshop Begins in Palikir

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): March 12, 2009 - On Monday, March 9, 2009, Vice President, the Honorable Alik Alik, opened the Aid for Trade and Project Proposal Formulation Workshop at the FSM Library of Congress in Palikir, Pohnpei. This workshop was held subsequent to Round Table Meeting (RTM) on Aid for Trane for the Pacific that was held on October 23-24, 2008 in Nadi, Fiji, during which Forum Islands Countries recognized their trade capacity-building needs and the necessity to mobilize Aid for Trade resources in an efficient and timely manner to address these needs. At this RTM, a road map and time table for action was agreed to, calling the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) to work with key stakeholders in member countries, to further refine and prioritize their trade-related project proposals that will be translated into donor-ready proposals for consideration in July 2009.

Attending this two day meeting was Mr. Wenguo Cai, who is a consultant hired by PIFS to assist the FSM in identifying, prioritizing and designing projects and programs that aim to remove trade supply-side constraints for the consideration of donors for Aid for Trade funding. The consultants will also be involved in preparing a regional Aid for Trade implementation plan that incorporates trade-related programs of relevant regional organizations and bilateral donors.

The workshop was chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Research and Development, Hon. Peter Christian, and was attended by the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the FSM National Congress, Hon. Dohsis Halbert, in addition to other members of the FSM National Government and public and private stakeholders.

For more information on the results of this meeting, please contact the Department of Research and Development at (691) 320-2646.