Tonga will host the 6th Pacific Community Conference, to be held in 2009, with the hope of drawing attention to the needs of the island kingdom.

The Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office of Tonga, Falekava Kupu, said the Conference was last held in Nuku'alofa in 1991.

'And this is a long time ago. By 2009 it will have been close to 18 years since Tonga last hosted the meeting. It doesn't only bring technical people together but, significantly, donors and service providers,' Mr Kupu said. 'This is good because we can then draw these people closer to the needs of people in our island kingdom.'

Mr Kupu's motion was supported by Fiji's Interim Health Minister and Conference Representative, Dr Jona Senilagakali, as the 5th Pacific Community Conference drew to a close in Apia, Samoa.

'The next meeting will provide us the opportunity to strengthen the existing ties we have with SPC [the Secretariat of the Pacific Community] and bind the Pacific Island countries and territories closer together,' Mr Kupu said. 'In hosting the next Conference we are looking at ways in which we can build on SPC...’s current projects in Tonga, especially in areas of agriculture and fisheries, which are our focal development programmes.'

Tonga is looking at improving bilateral trade discussions and capitalising on the experiences gained from other conferences and meetings hosted on their shores. 'We would like to significantly capitalise on SPC's expertise and take specialists to our rural and isolated areas and outer islands for similar experiences,' said Mr Kupu. SPC, 13/11/07.