Page 6 - IB May 2018 Edition

We say

Nothing will be more pleasing for the people of the Pacific than to see real and practical initiatives

on the ground, strategies that allow them to pursue higher learnings, jobs and work internships in
industrialised countries like the United Kingdom

BRITAIN’S an- Australia, Japan,
nouncement of Mexico, Peru
its intention to and Vietnam.
re-engage with Pursuing a
the islands of trade pact with
the Pacific, some the UK will of-
of which are its fer island trade
former colonies, negotiators that
post-Brexit is a rare opportu-
welcoming de- nity of doing
velopment. better than the
Using its host- last time. PAC-
ing in April of the ER Plus was a
25th Common- disappointment
wealth Heads when Australia
of Government and New Zea-
Meeting in Lon- Some Pacific leaders at CHOGM 2018 in London. Photo: Government of the Kingdom of Tonga land refused to
don to make the include labour
announcement, mobility in that
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the re-engagement agreement. Jobs too were one of several reasons that negotiations
would focus on three areas of collaboration: boosting prosperity, for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) collapsed between
tackling security issues and clearing up the environment. the European Union and Pacific Island Countries.
Aid for trade has been used too often in this part of the world,
Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu have been so much so that it exists only in the dreams and intentions of
Thinking outside already advised that the Foreign Office development and trade bureaucrats. There is very little of aid-for-
the box would be re-opening its diplomatic mis- trade initiatives to be seen on the ground in our islands.
sions in these islands. Diplomatic presence This desire by Britain to return to our region offers that window
ceased when Britain joined the European of opportunity for island leaders to do good, or do better than
Union. To perhaps celebrate its re-engagement, Secretary John- when they had attempted to negotiate EPA or PACER Plus. They
son went onto announce a new alliance with Vanuatu aimed at must not let this opportunity slip by.
fighting plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean. Nothing will be more pleasing for the people of the Pacific than
This is all well and good. to see real and practical initiatives on the ground, strategies that
We have to wonder though whether there is room for both allow them to pursue higher learnings, jobs and work internships
London and capitals of independent islands of the Pacific to de- in industrialised countries like the United Kingdom.
termine the form the re-engagement should take. Will the British Sourcing young or talented people from the Pacific is nothing
merely pick up from where it had left off years ago, re-joining new. At one point, 3,000 young men and women from Fiji were
the list of development partners and donors of foreign aid, thus members of the British Army. A number of Pacific athletes from
perpetuating this donor-recipient relationship? Tonga, Samoa and Fiji play their rugby in the UK. Its conglomer-
Or will leaders of our islands seize the opportunity to change the ate Tate & Lyle used to be a big-time buyer of Fiji’s sugar.
status quo, to use the frequently used phrase of thinking outside What is there to stop island governments of the Pacific from
the box, changing the narrative and opting for some innovation forging work exchange programmes with the British Govern-
in the renewed relationship? ment, or urging London to re-introduce its professional volunteer
For what’s stopping island countries, which are members of the scheme to provide mentoring in island work places or universi-
Pacific Islands Forum from exploring a real and genuine trade-for- ties?
aid agreement with Great Britain for instance? Already, our bigger These without a doubt will be much more welcoming, indeed
neighbour of Australia is interested in exploring a bilateral trade acceptable in this day and age, instead of simply perpetuating the
agreement with the UK. Prime Minister Theresa May’s Interna- donor-recipient mentality, the us-and-them mindset, the type of
tional Aid minister has even floated the idea of the UK joining the relationship that many developmental researchers have rejected
Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement that currently involves as nothing more than mere forms of neo-colonialism.

“The time perhaps is right for the university owners and administrators to pause and reflect
on how they can re-inject and restore some of the Pacific character and culture into

the university that bears its name”

AS the University of the South Pacific celebrates its golden jubi- institution to reflect and reclaim its Pacific-ness. That sugges-
lee this year, it may also be an opportune time for the regional tion actually came from one of its own, a matua or elder in her

6 Islands Business, May 2018