PINA

Former Tongan Health Minister Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala has been nominated as the next World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific. Health ministers and other senior officials from the Region’s Member States voted Tuesday during the seventy-fourth session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific. Proposed by Tonga, Dr Piukala is a surgeon with nearly 30...

Economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region remains on track to contribute about two-thirds of global growth in 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday. This is “despite a challenging environment shaped by a global demand rotation from goods to services and synchronised monetary tightening,” the Washington-based fund said in its latest regional economic outlook report for Asia and...

Fiji’s prime minister said Tuesday he hopes Australia’s acquisition of a fleet of submarines powered by U.S nuclear technology will enhance peace in the Pacific region but stopped short of endorsing the increased military cooperation with the United States. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said he will discuss with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday how a “zone of peace”...

Pacific leaders have expressed disappointment after Australia voted against altering its constitution to create an Indigenous voice to Parliament over the weekend. Had it won, the referendum would have established a representative body to advise the government on issues that affect First Nations people. Former Pacific Island Forum secretary-general and PNG diplomat Meg Taylor said consultation in the lead-up to the...

China's President Xi Jinping said the country supports Papua New Guinea in playing a greater role in international and regional affairs, and is willing to strengthen ties. Xi made the comments in a meeting with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, who was in Beijing to attend this week's Belt and Road Forum. The Pacific Islands nation, which signed a...

Papua New Guinea Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru has assured investors in Asia that his government has its sights set on free trade agreements with China and Indonesia. He said his ministry, in tandem with a new parliamentary committee, will look into the impediments to business, with the aim to ease such disincentives to investors coming into...

The People's Republic of China and Papua New Guinea on Tuesday issued a joint statement. At the invitation of the People's Republic of China, Prime Minister James Marape, of Papua New Guinea attended the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and also embarked on an official visit to the People's Republic of China from 16-19 October, 2023. During the...

Health ministers in the Western Pacific nominated a surgeon from Tonga, Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala, to lead the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional office at a meeting in Manila on Tuesday. Piukala’s nomination for WHO’s top job in the Western Pacific comes months after the UN health agency fired its previous director, Dr Takeshi Kasai, following allegations of racism and...

Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has expressed alarm over the “intensifying” rivalry between the United States and China and risk to global peace, warning that the Pacific doesn’t want to be forced to choose between the two superpowers. Visiting Canberra this week for talks with Anthony Albanese, Rabuka pledged to make the Pacific an “Ocean of Peace”, saying a region...

Fiji’s prime minister says he will reject help from nations who donate aid and expect compliance as he works to gain support for a Pacific-centric peace plan. Sitiveni Rabuka used a speech to call for a Pacific “peace zone”, saying his nation should not be forced to choose a side in any conflict or competition between the United States and...