SUVA, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill said here on Tuesday that Pacific regionalism is a good platform for discussion of all the important issues that affect people on a daily basis.
Speaking at a public lecture on Pacific regionalism, O'Neill said that Pacific countries are small but collectively their votes matter on global resolutions, so they are able to position themselves in a very strategic manner that will draw attention from the international community.
"In the Pacific, we are often underestimated but we are leading some of the global discussions that are taking place on climate change, trade and investment, the agendas of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)," he said, adding that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of this era and acknowledged the leadership that Fiji is providing in many of the discussions that has taken place in many of the arenas including COP23.
He said that Papua New Guinea will be the first Pacific country to host APEC in November this year.
The visiting global leaders will include the Presidents of the United States, China and Russia,these global economies control 50 percent of the global trade and GDP and all the Pacific Island members will have the opportunity to engage meaningfully with them, he said.
On Monday, O'Neill said in the Fijian parliament that APEC summit will provide an enormous opportunity for many countries in the region.
He said that the summit will be attended by nearly 9,000 delegates from all over the world and his country continues to provide the highest level of security to all its visiting leaders.
He also invited his Fijian counterpart Voreqe Bainimarama to address the APEC summit in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea in November this year.
O'Neill arrived here on Sunday for his first official visit to Fiji since being elected as prime minister in 2012. He left Fiji on Tuesday afternoon.