Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 20 September 2023 - Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister the Honourable Mark Brown met with Solomon Islands Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade, the Honourable Jeremiah Manele last week in the margins of the Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting (FFMM), which was chaired by Prime Minister Brown at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Suva.
Prime Minister Brown and Minister Manele discussed progress on preparations for the Cook Islands hosting of the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM52) to be held from 6 - 10 November, and the Solomon Islands hosting of the Pacific Games scheduled to be held from 19 November – 2 December 2023.
The two also discussed infrastructure development and international engagement approaches as well as the importance of strengthening the Forums Dialogue Partner engagement mechanisms, with Prime Minister Brown also elaborating on the Cook Islands proposal for Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity (PPfP) to be recommended to Forum Leaders when they meet in November.
"Amongst the nine initiatives the Cook Islands is proposing as PPfP, of particular interest to the Solomon Islands was strengthening cyber security arrangements and capitalising the Pacific Resilience Facility," said Prime Minister Brown.