The European Union (EU) Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica and other senior EU officials will attend the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting in Apia this week.

“I am delighted to attend the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting to reinforce our already excellent relations with Pacific countries,” Commissioner Mimica said.

 “Aside from discussing the post-2020 relationship between the EU and Pacific partners, I will be working with leaders to encourage action on women’s empowerment and gender equality, working in partnership with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and Australia,” commissioner Mimica said.

Commissioner Mimica will lead the Europen Union delegation and will be accompanied by the European Union Ambassador for the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs, the Director for Asia, Central Asia, Middle East/Gulf and the Pacific at the European Commission’s Department for International Cooperation and Development, Pierre Amilhat, European External Action Service (EEAS) Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific, Paola Pampaloni, Head of Unit EU- Africa, Africa Peace Facility, Dominico Rosa, and Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation for the Pacific, Christoph Wagner.

Commissioner Mimica will hold discussions with Pacific leaders to explore initial ideas for the focus of Pacific-EU relations after 2020 when the Cotonou Agreement expires. This comprehensive agreement was signed in 2000 between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States.

Commissioner Mimica and the Prime Minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, will host an EU-Pacific Gender Conference in the margins of the Pacific Islands Forum Meeting.

At that occasion Commissioner Mimica and the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS), Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor, will sign a financing agreement worth EUR$18 million to help tackle the root causes of gender inequality and violence against women and girls in the Pacific.

While in Samoa, Commissioner Mimica will sign an additional EUR$7 million financing agreement with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat focusing on technical cooperation and capacity building at the regional level, as well as a EUR$1.4 million financing agreement in support of the Cook Islands’ sanitation sector.

During his short stay in Apia, Commissioner Mimica will hold a number of bilateral meetings with Pacific Island leaders.

The Commissioner will also take the opportunity of the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Meeting to strengthen the already excellent partnerships with Australia and New Zealand.