Melanesian free trade agreement reached

VANUATU – A Melanesian Free Trade Agreement has been reached following negotiations in Vanuatu this week.

Trade Ministers and officials from member countries of the Melanesian Spearhead Group endorsed the conclusion of three years of negotiations at the Fifth MSG Trade Ministers meeting in Port Vila.

The meeting’s chair, the Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Milner Tozaka said the endorsement was a milestone achievement which would see the establishment of a Melanesian Free Trade Area by 2017.

The MSG’s Programme Manager of Trade and Investment, Johnny Licht said revisions extend the agreement from exclusively covering goods to include trade in services, labour mobility and cross-border investments.

“We are confident that we have come up with a better trade agreement a much more improved, refined, comprehensive trade agreement that can provide for opportunities in each member country for those who want to trade not just in goods but also in other sectors for a better future for the people of Melanesia,” he said.

Once signed by leaders later this year, the new trade agreement will be subject to national ratification processes with January 1 as the date for when it will come in to force.

- RNZI