MSG Secretariat and People’s Republic of China Discusses possible partnership arrangement
ADG George Hoa’au (second from right), Counselor Lin Bin, (Second from Left), with officials from the MSG Secretariat and the Vanuatu Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
09 Dec 2020
The MSG Secretariat and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Embassy in Vanuatu commenced discussion on possible partnership arrangements. A formal meeting was convened this morning at the Embassy of the PRC, and in attendance were officials of the China Embassy, the MSG Secretariat and Vanuatu Foreign Affairs.
Speaking during the meeting, the MSG Secretariat Acting Director General (ADG), Mr George Hoa’au expressed his appreciation to the PRC, through their Embassy here in Vanuatu for their willingness to be part of the development aspirations of the Group. He emphasized that all of the MSG Members have now recognised the “One China Policy”, and hence, the MSG Secretariat adherence to engage with PRC to advance greater cooperation and intergradation is the reflection of this understanding.
ADG Hoa’au alluded that having such a partnership arrangement between the MSG Secretariat and the PRC will specifically address common areas of mutual interests at sub-regional level purposely to accommodate an upscaling of these bilateral relations to multilateral approach.
Speaking on behalf of the PRC, Counsellor Lin Bin of the China Embassy in Vanuatu, welcomed the proposed partnership arrangement with the MSG Secretariat. She thanked the MSG Secretariat for taking the initiative to partner with the PRC. She said, as one of the development partners in the region, PRC will be delighted to working closely with the MSG Secretariat to advance the aspirations of its Members.
While the details of the partnership arrangements will be further discussed and finalised in due course, the likely areas of collaborations, will be on institutional strengthening and capacity building, regional security, education and training, climate change, sustainable development, economic development, communication and technology, and COVID related activities.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is made up of Five Members, which includes; the Republic of Fiji, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and the Republic of Vanuatu and the FLNKS. The five MSG Members combined has the biggest group in the Pacific Region in terms size and mass.
It is understood that a series of consultations will be convened at the officials’ level between the parties before a formal arrangement is finalized.