PUSHING FOR BETTER QUALITY : Pacific Island Forum Deputy Secretary General, Ms. Desna Solofa,
By Staff Writer
The recognition of top quality products is a key… “enabler for our businesses to thrive, create jobs, and drive economic development through exports.”
This was the challenge raised by the Pacific Island Forum Deputy Secretary General, Ms. Desna Solofa, at the start this week of a good quality policy workshop for the region.
Solofa gave as the best example the demand for ‘kava’ where “…Pacific countries worked together to have an international standard adopted in 2020.”
“It gave our traditional product clear quality requirements that producers can follow to trade safely, and profitably, around the world,” the Deputy Secretary General stated.
“Building on this achievement, we are now working with partners to develop additional standards and help producers meet them, so that the value of our green gold can continue to grow,” she continued.
“This includes work on geographical indications and standards for other value-added kava-based products.”
Her key remarks are added below …..
“By supporting the quality upgrade of Pacific products, it enables these products to access new markets more easily, command better prices, and offset some of the structural constraints our producers face — such as small sizes and high transport costs.
“In other words, Quality Infrastructure is one of the tools our region can leverage to deliver the economic ambitions of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific: to establish a sustainable and resilient model of development for our region.
“Standards can promote a wide range of objectives — protecting consumer health, supporting energy transitions, and strengthening resilience to natural disasters.
“ This means the potential for Quality Infrastructure to contribute to our broader development goals is enormous.
“While the current focus of the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative (PQII) is rightly on trade – our hope is that as we strengthen its foundations, these same systems will increasingly support a broader range of development needs.
“The value of Quality Infrastructure does not end here. It is also an area where the benefits of regional cooperation are among the greatest.
“Regional collaboration is often the only viable way to build a fully-fledged quality infrastructure for many of our Forum Members, in particular our Smaller Islands States and LDCs.
“Some members may lack the capacity to adapt international standards to local conditions, to purchase and maintain advanced measurement equipment, or to establish and accredit testing laboratories and certification bodies.
“Regional cooperation offers practical, cost-effective solutions to each of these challenges, making quality tools accessible to all our members.”
