Greetings from the PINA Secretariat in Suva, Fiji Islands!

We have been receiving lots of inquiries about our 5^th Pacific Media Summit in Nuku’alofa, Tonga from 7-11 May this year.

Below are some quick updates on preparations for the Media Summit;

• We can confirm the biennial regional media gathering is still happening in the island Kingdom of Tonga and preparations are now in earnest after the election of the new Government and the swearing into office of the new Cabinet a few weeks ago.

Our theme for the summit is “Empowering the Media for Digital Challenges.”

“Many of governments in the Pacific have embarked on ambitious ICT policies in the hope that it will facilitate growth and transform their people into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Most of these policies are centred on making available digital infrastructure, providing governance and services on demand and digital empowerment of citizens. The summit will explore opportunities and challenges for the media in a digitally empowered society.” 

• Pre-Summit workshop – To date, we have secured two pre-summit workshops and continuing discussions with a few more. Our plan is to convene at least five (5) workshops for members in collaboration with PINA partners. We will provide more information in our next update.

• Venue – The venue for the Summit will be he Fa’onelua Convention Centre in the capital,  Nuku’alofa
• Summit Programme - Our programme for the Summit is now being finalised. We promise to have some exciting speakers and sessions around the theme of ICT Policies, E-Governance, Digital Strategy, Challenges of Citizen Journalism, Gender and the Media, Impact of Social Media on Content, The Rise of Fake News etc.

• Market Place Session:  We are keen to continue with the Parallel Market Place Session – to provide a unique and dynamic space for participants to benefit from one–on-one coaching opportunities with experts where they can bring questions or issues of concern to their organisations for advice and ideas. The Marketplace is set-up like a trade-show where experts will be located at various stations in the room and participants can either drop-in to chat with specialists if they are available or make appointments for later during the event.