International Monetary Fund

Port Vila, Vanuatu, November 22, 2013

THE PACIFIC WAY: Lifting Potential Growth in the Pacific Islands

  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience
  • Fostering Inclusive Growth and Building Resilience

High-Level Conference on Pacific Island Countries Lifting Potential Growth in the Pacific Islands

A conference on the theme “Lifting Potential Growth in the Pacific Islands” will take place in Port Vila, Vanuatu, November 22, 2013. The conference will be jointly hosted by the IMF and the Government of Vanuatu. The event will be attended by Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director, IMF and will bring together more than 180 leading regional policymakers, development partners, representatives from the private and financial sectors, academia, senior management of other international financial institution, and the media. The conference is by invitation only.

The conference will focus on policies that could help the Pacific Islands raise their economic growth. These include policies that could leverage integration with emerging Asia as well as with Australia and New Zealand and find regional solutions to common issues. It will also focus on strategies for intraregional cooperation and coordination to help overcome smallness. Delegates will discuss actions to ease impediments to private sector development, including the role of public-private partnerships and provide recommendations on how to build resilience against natural disasters and climate change shocks. Finally, it will focus on policies that could enhance macro-fiscal stability to support growth and strengthen institutions and governance.

 

 

Thursday, November 21


Welcome Dinner offered by Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director, IMF
at Warwick Le Lagon Resort
7:00-9:30 pm

Friday, November 22

8:30-8:45 am

Registration

8:45-9:00 am

Welcoming remarks by H.E. Moana Carcasses Kalosil, Prime Minister of Vanuatu

Read Welcoming remarks by H.E. Moana Carcasses Kalosil Speech

9:00-9:15 am

Opening remarks by Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director, IMF

Read Min Zhu's opening remarks Speech

Session 1: Policies to Raise Potential Growth in the Pacific Islands: The Challenge of Being Small

Chair: Jong-Won Yoon, IMF Executive Director for for Australia, Kiribati, Korea, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu

9:15-9:25 am

Photo op

9:25-9:45 am

Keynote speaker: Prof. Lino Briguglio, University of Malta, Head of the Economics Department and Small States Institute, “Economic Vulnerability and Resilience of Small States”

Presentation See the presentation

9:45-10:45 am

Panel Discussion (10 minutes each)

    ○ Hon. Maki Simelum, Minister of Finance and Economic Management, Vanuatu

    ○ Hon. Kensley Ikosia, Secretary of Finance, Micronesia

    Junichi Yamada, Senior Special Advisor, JICA

    Presentation See the presentation

    Peter Allum, Assistant Director, Strategy Policy and Review Department, IMF

    Lamin Leigh, Deputy Division chief, African Department, IMF

10:45-11:00 am

Q&A

11:00-11:15 am

Tea/Coffee Break

Session 2: Leveraging Growth through Regional Integration and Supporting Private Sector Development: What Role for Policies?

Moderator: Hoe Ee Khor, Deputy Director, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF

11:15-11:30 am

Speaker: Andrea Iffland, Regional Director, Pacific Liaison and Coordination Office in Australia, Asian Development Bank: "Strengthening Regional Connectivity to Realize Growth Potential in the Pacific"

Presentation See the presentation

11:30-11:45 am

Speaker: Yongzheng Yang, Resident Representative for the Pacific Islands, IMF: "Pacific Island Countries: In Search of a Trade Strategy"

Presentation See the presentation

11:45 am-12:45 pm

Panel Discussion (10 minutes each):

    ○ Hon. Rick Houenipwela, Minister of Finance, Solomon Islands

    Sara Brites, Deputy Central Bank Governor, Timor-Leste

    Daikichi Momma, IMF Executive Director for Japan

    Presentation See the presentation

    Richard Neves, Financial Secretary, Cook Islands

    Bryan Death, Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry

    Presentation See the presentation

    Jeffrey Byrne, General Manager for Pacific Islands, Westpac

12:45-1 pm

Q&A

1:00-2:00 pm

Luncheon

Session 3: Special Session on Climate Change and Natural Disasters: Building Resilience

Moderator: Patrizia Tumbarello, Unit Chief, Pacific Islands Unit, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF

2:00-2:20pm

Speaker: Prof. Stephen Howes, Australian National University: “The Challenge of Climate Change in the Pacific Islands: What Role for Domestic and International Policies?”

Presentation See the presentation

2:20-3:20 pm

Panel Discussion (10 minutes each)

    Franz Drees-Gross, Country Director, Timor-Leste, PNG& the Pacific Islands, World Bank

    Presentation See the presentation

    Iulai Lavea, CEO, Ministry of Finance, Samoa

    ○ Hon. Tom Murdoch, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Kiribati

    ○ Hon. Dennis Momotaro, Minister of Finance, Marshall Islands

    ○ Hon. Maatia Toafa, Minister of Finance, Tuvalu

    Janet Strachan, Head of the Section for Small States, Environment and Economic Management, Economic Affairs, Commonwealth Secretariat

    Read the Background Paper See the Background Paper

    Presentation See the Presentation

3:20-3:45 p.m.

Q&A

3:45-4:00 pm

Tea/Coffee break

Session 4: Strengthening Fiscal Frameworks and Governance, and Improving Public Spending Composition

Moderator: Tess Newton Cain, Devpacific

4:00-4:15 pm

Speaker: Patrizia Tumbarello, Unit Chief, Pacific Islands Unit, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF: "Fiscal Frameworks to Support Growth and Macro Stability"

Presentation See the presentation

4:15-5:30 pm

Panel Discussion (10 minutes each):

    ○ Hon. Lisiate 'Aloveita 'Akolo, Minister of Finance, Tonga

    Filimone Waqabaca, Secretary of Finance, Fiji

    Presentation See the presentation

    ○ Hon. Don Polye, Minister for Treasury, Papua New Guinea

    Adrien Mourgues, Attaché Coopération, European Union

    Richard Bontjer, Pacific Development Division, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia

    Mike Burrell, Director of the Sustainable Economic Division, New Zealand Aid Programme

5:30-5:45 pm

Q&A

5:45-6:00 pm

Closing remarks by Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director, IMF; and Hon. Maki Simelum Minister of Finance, Vanuatu

7:30-10:30 pm

Melanesian Night Dinner offered by the Government of Vanuatu, at the Irririki Island resort. By invitation only