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Pacific leaders begin meeting in Honolulu
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Posted on Feb 01 2001
Honolulu, Hawaii (PIDP/CPIS)—The sixth pacific islands conference of leaders summit officially got under way Tuesday with a traditional Hawaiian chant and the presentation of flower leis to the presidents, prime ministers, governors and other leaders meeting this week to find pacific island solutions to issues of globalization and governance.
The top-level meeting is taking place in Honolulu a short distance from Waikiki beach.
The leaders were officially welcomed by meeting convener and former Fiji President Ratu sir Kamisee k. T. Mara, East-West Center president Charles Morrison and the Governor of Hawaii, Benjamin Cayetano.
Cayetano, in remarks opening the summit, said Hawaii’s economy, like that of many Pacific island nations and territories, is dominated by one industry. In Hawaii’s case it is tourism.
But while tourism continues to be a driving force, he said, Hawaii has effectively continued to diversity its economic base, emphasizing use of new technologies, including the Internet, to conduct private business and provide government services.
He recommended that other Pacific islands region nations and territories take similar steps.
Now that ships and airlines no longer need to make Pacific refueling and provisioning stops when crossing between North America and Asia, he said, many island areas are too often bypassed.
Use of technology, he emphasized, has helped eliminate problems associated with this lack of contact and resolve difficulties associated with being distant from major continental centers.
Start technology education early, he said, by introducing students to computers and use of the Internet in schools.
“Let’s work together to survive in an era of globalization,” Cayetano said in getting the leaders’ meeting under way.
