Programme to improve Pacific markets launched

SUVA: A new phase of the Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access (PHAMA) programme was launched in Suva, Fiji, recently.
PHAMA Plus is the new phase of the Australian and New Zealand supported aid-for-trade programme builds on the foundation established by PHAMA in 2011.
It is a multi-country programme with offices in Fiji, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
With a targeted focus on maintaining and improving existing market access, the programme is about improving economic growth and rural livelihoods for Pacific peoples.
Although the new phase commenced on November last year, it was officially launched last week following thorough planning and discussion about commodity interventions for each of the six core countries.
Under the new phase, the programme will also provide technical export and market access support for small island states that have ratified the PACER Plus trade agreement.
Officiating at the launch, Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to Fiji, Anna Dorney said: “PHAMA Plus will be country-led with the recognition that exporters, processors and farming households are the drivers of economic growth and export supply chains with discrete, multi-year, export-market oriented interventions.
“It will use a purposeful blend of market systems facilitation and direct engagement, to ensure local market relevance and responsiveness with an increased emphasis on export commodity quality and productivity to enhance Pacific supply chain reliability.”
At the launch were representatives from other Pacific government ministries and agencies, private sector representatives from the region and representatives of partner agencies.
PHAMA Plus is an AU$36 million (K85mil) investment spanning four years (2018-22), with resources from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Government.
PHAMA Plus has three end-of-programme outcomes: producers and exporters use maintained and new export market access for Pacific export products; women and men exporters, processors and producers adopt quality and productivity enhancing innovations for their export products; and, women and men staff of Pacific biosecurity authorities perform their market access facilitation functions better.