The Prime Minister has flown to Bangkok for a regional conference with her two-week duty travel to culminate with her attendance at the 3rd India-Pacific Cooperation Summit.

Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa flew out of Samoa on Saturday for Thailand to attend the 79th Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) which is scheduled for 15–19 May 2023. The five-day conference will be convened at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok. 

Guided by the theme “Accelerating climate action in Asia and the Pacific for sustainable development”, the annual session of the ESCAP is also considered to be an opportunity for regional leaders to strengthen cooperation on climate change.

The session will bring together government leaders from across Asia and the Pacific and other key stakeholders to discuss policy options and areas of regional cooperation required to accelerate climate action in the region and beyond. 

With dedicated discussions on catalysing climate finance and investments, complemented by a climate solutions fair, the session will allow identifying opportunities, sharing solutions, and facilitating engagement of a broad set of partners and stakeholders, to both reduce the risks and impacts of climate change and foster ambitious climate action in Asia and the Pacific towards net-zero pathways and limit global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Following the ESCAP summit in Bangkok, Fiamē will then represent Samoa at the 3rd India-Pacific Cooperation Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on 22 May 2023. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister, James Marape are co-hosting the summit. 

Mr. Marape also confirmed last week that U.S. President Joe Biden will make a brief stopover in Port Moresby also on the same day. 

When asked whether she and other Pacific leaders will also meet with President Biden, Fiamē said they have been informed that he will be visiting P.N.G. but she was not sure whether he will also be at the summit.

"What I know is that President Biden is on an official visit to Papua New Guinea," the Prime Minister said. "The Pacific Island Leaders already met with him (President Biden) officially last year so this visit is particularly for P.N.G. 

"But we don't know if he is hoping to get there (in P.N.G.) just in time for the Pacific Island Leaders summit or the Pacific-India summit."

Upon returning to Samoa after her duty travel, Fiamē will lead the program for the closing ceremony and festivities of the country's 12-month celebration of its 60th Independence anniversary and the commemoration of its 61st Independence Anniversary next month.