Vanuatu has to be serious about its commitments and membership of the PacerPlus Regional Trade Agreement if it wants to reap the benefits expected. It will be determined by the outcome of this workshop, whether or not Vanuatu will benefit from the $25 Million made available to PacerPlus member countries. That is how many proposals resulting from this workshop will be considered eligible, bankable, high-quality demand-driven by the project committee and receive funding?

The Vanuatu Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (VFIPA) participated with one goal - to be successful with its proposal for a "One-Stop-Shop (OSS)" for Vanuatu. VFIPA was determined to get this proposal through using the experience it has with its online FDI registry, recently launched and is now in full operation. But the need for this OSS is timely given the current economic and financial situation that requires innovation and pro-active approaches to enhancing business environments and boosting economic developments.

Over the 4-day period, representative from government departments who are involved in Trade and Services activities participated in a proposal clinic workshop, held at Ramada, Port Vila from 16-17 November, 2023.

Prior to the workshop date, participants were requested to prepare 2-3 proposals relating to Trade and Services which they believe would have an impact on the country’s development priorities. These proposals were then discussed by the workshop experts to get their opinion as to whether the topics are relevant and qualify for further development.

A formal workshop following the verbal meeting and discussions introduced the participants to proposal development; its goal, objectives and methodologies. A practical session of the workshop saw participants divided in to groups and were asked to come up with 2-3 topics each for their proposals. And finally devoted time to develop a proper project proposal and presented.

The PPIU coordinator in Vanuatu will be responsible for coordinating the completion of all project proposal and send to his high Office for final review and submission. All participants are excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to receiving positive feed backs.

The Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Plus is a regional trade and development agreement between the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Countries, Australia and New Zealand. During initial discussions and eventually led to the signing of the agreement, such development will contribute to raising the living standards, create jobs and increase exports from Pacific Island countries, while also lowering barriers and providing greater certainty for businesses operating in the Pacific.

While all Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) members are encouraged to join PACER Plus, to date ten (10) PIF members ratified and have been Party to the Agreement since its entry into force on 13 December 2020: Australia, Cook Islands, Kiribati, New Zealand, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.