Story: Pacific Islands and New Zealand

A gathering of Pacific leaders prepare to face the camera at the 2011 meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland. They discussed sustainable economic development, fisheries, transport and energy, tourism, labour mobility and trade, with regional initiatives and trade agreements a high priority. Climate change was identified as continuing to be the greatest threat to the well-being of Pacific peoples.

The forum was attended by representatives of Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna. The Asian Development Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the United Nations, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the World Bank sent observers. Other countries (including China and the United States) attended as dialogue partners.