Pacific parliament leaders to build global links in New Zealand

Parliament leaders from around the Pacific will gather in New Zealand next week to build links with other world legislatures through the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), the world's only global forum for parliamentary dialogue and cooperation.

Speakers of the parliaments of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga would join New Zealand Parliament Speaker David Carter and IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong, Carter said in a statement Friday.

Chungong had stressed the desire of the IPU is to engage more meaningfully with parliaments in the Pacific.

"Of the IPU's 166 current members, very few are from the Pacific. It is important that the IPU is aware of the priorities for our region," said Carter.

"The four legislatures joining us for the program in New Zealand bring a diversity of size, systems and issues that will collectively enrich the IPU's engagement in the region by providing a cross-section of Pacific perspectives." Carter said.

The objectives were to further strengthen the parliamentary ties between New Zealand and the four Pacific nations, to raise and discuss issues of concern to Pacific parliaments with the IPU, and to foster new links between the Pacific parliaments and the IPU, Carter noted.

The program, from June 23 to 25, was part of a strategic effort to reinforce the importance of the Pacific region in a global context, said Carter. Endi