Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office

Tonga’s Prime Minister the Hon. Dr Feleti Sevele will launch the ADB publication which provides a guide for private sector-oriented reform that will help make the Tongan business environment more attractive and profitable for investors.

Hosted by ADB’s Sydney office, Pacific private sector development donors will discuss Pacific PSD issues and approaches for coordination and collaboration.

A mission headed by Winfried Wicklein, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist, PLCO will also visit Samoa for high-level dialogue with the Government and other key stakeholders in relation to public enterprises and private sector participation in the economy.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Pacific Islands gather in Sydney for a conference to highlight the importance of financial literacy in the region. Read the joint news release [ PDF: 42kb | 1 page ].

ADB, AusAID, NZAID, World Bank Group, and UNDP representatives will attend this meeting in Canberra, Australia.

ADB Vice-President C. Lawrence Greenwood Jr. will lead an ADB mission to Canberra, Australia for consultations with senior Australian Government officials.

PLCO Regional Director Naomi Chakwin will lead a PLCO mission to Vanuatu to attend an AusAID organized Land Summit. The PLCO team will also attend a business forum there and present preliminary findings of ADB's new Private Sector Assessment for Vanuatu. A review mission for an ongoing secured transactions reforms TA project will also be conducted.

The workshop, co-organized with the New Zealand Companies Office, for business registrars and private sector representatives from Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu concluded with an agreement to increase regional cooperation and harmonization for companies and personal property securities registry reform and consider the establishment of a regional business registrars forum. See program. [ PDF ]

During his first visit to Vanuatu, Pacific Department Director General Philip Erquiaga and the ADB Sydney office team met with Vanuatu's Prime Minister Ham Lini, Minister of Finance Willie Jimmy, other senior government officials, private sector representatives, and development partners to explore opportunities for deepening ADB's relationships and engagement in Vanuatu.

Pacific government officials are participating in a workshop to improve their understanding of PPPs, using best practice, case studies, and site visits. ADB is a cosponsor with Bond University, Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, and IFC's Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility.

2008 Asian Development Outlook(ADO) Report Pacific launch

The Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office (PLCO) hosted an ADO launch which was a special activity involving the Pacific Department in ADB HQ and all of ADB’s offices in the Pacific. Pacific Department Director General Philip Erquiaga from Manila introduced presentations given in Sydney by Principal Economist William James and Pacific Department Economist Craig Sugden, and the South Pacific Sub-regional Office (SPSO), the Papua New Guinea Resident Mission (PNRM), and the Special Liaison Office in Timor-Leste (SOTL) were connected to PLCO via video-conferencing facilities, enabling Pacific journalists and other stakeholders to participate in the launch.

The mission to Nuku'alofa Tonga has two main purposes:

• Presentation of a final draft of ADB's Tonga private sector assessment to government, business and other stakeholder groups.
• To launch a joint ADB-World Bank Group initiative to reform an enabling business environment. ADB will support reform of the Companies Act, and the World Bank Group will focus on modernizing the Companies Registry.

• PLCO PSD Specialist Winfried Wicklein leads a Private Sector Assessment fact-finding mission to Port Vila, Vanuatu. The mission will analyse impediments to private sector activity and develop a reform roadmap.
• Review missions for ongoing TA projects in the areas of reform of the legal and institutional business environment.

PLCO RD Naomi Chakwin leads a private sector development reconnaissance mission to Dili, Timor-Leste.