Cook Islands High Commissioner to Fiji, Jim Armistead, has shared with the Pacific Islands Forum how the Cook Islands as co-chair along with Tonga is developing the implementation plan for the 2050 Strategy.

Pacific Island leaders endorsed the 2050 strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent at last year’s Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Suva, Fiji.

It was welcomed and endorsed as the overarching blueprint to advance Pacific regionalism for the next three decades, articulating the region’s long-term vision, values, and key thematic areas and strategic pathways.

And now work is currently being progressed to develop an implementation plan for the strategy.

Earlier this week, Cook Islands High Commissioner to Fiji Armistead said Cook Islands is co-chair with Tonga on the 2050 Strategy and the work that they are doing at the moment is developing the implementation plan for the 2050 strategy itself.’

How would they deliver this over the next 27 years until 2050?

According to the High Commissioner to Fiji, the Sub-Committee at the moment is working through a Multi-Stakeholder Expert Groups (MSEGs), the sectoral groups, developing actions, goals and outcomes and specific areas related to the Strategy.

He said: “So as co-chair we corral that process and make sure that the MSEGs deliver on what they have been tasked to do.”

He said: “The private sector has a very large role and coming from the Cook Islands, quite a private sector driven economy and especially for tourism, I think you know for … for development, I think you need a vibrant private sector.”

“I think when we’re looking at the way that we will develop the implementation plan, each of the MSEGs has a private sector member on each of the groupings, and so, we are looking for their input and their contribution to the actual implementation plan.”

He said it is going to be quite a long haul, but: “I am confident that we have the mandate and the buy-in from the leaders to deliver on the 2050 strategy.”