“Parliamentarians have a constitutional role to consider the trade agreements...Pacific parliamentarians will need to have a clear understanding of the multilateral trading system — they must be able to analyse the negotiations and understand the implications for their economies and for the Pacific region as a whole as they work towards entering into binding legal agreements and implementing legislation,” Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Tuiloma Neroni Slade said in his opening remarks.

Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu sent members of parliament or senior government officials. Business leaders of Vanuatu also participated in the workshop.

In addition to WTO and Pacific Islands Forum representatives, regional think tanks Forum Fisheries Agency and the Pacific Institute for Public Policy provided their perspectives on the Doha Round negotiations and their implications for the Pacific Islands.

The workshop covered the following topics: general overview of the WTO agreements; the Doha Round and what's at stake for the Pacific; development issues in the WTO with focus on small vulnerable economies (SVEs) and least developed countries (LDCs); and regionalism versus multilateralism, trade in services and business perspective on the WTO. There was also a lengthy discussion the state of play of Doha negotiations on fisheries subsidies.

The workshop concluded with a roundtable discussion on how parliamentarians from the Pacific deal with trade issues. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Vanuatu Joe Natuman underlined the importance of intensive consultations with all stakeholders before deciding on a position in the WTO or the Doha Round. This view was supported by the other members of parliament, who also stressed their countries' need for comprehensive technical co-operation programmes.

In his closing remarks, Minister Natuman, acknowledged the support from the WTO and PIFS in convening the workshop for parliamentarians and business representatives.  

The WTO Secretariat representatives were Ms Maika Oshikawa and Mr Luis Ople. Pacific Forum Islands speakers were Secretary General Mr. Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Mr Kaliopate Tavola, Ms Joann Young and Mr. Amitesh Prasad.