Getting serious about achieving the millennium development goals in the Pacific: strengthening economic development

Abstract

The Pacific has huge potential and a richness of natural, social and human resources that should assure a bright future. However, in the short term the Pacific's problems are mounting. The legacy of conflicts over recent years continues to affect countries, including Solomon Islands and Tonga, and Fiji is suffering a serious downturn as a result of the coup and declines in its sugar and clothing exports. Meanwhile, the global financial crisis is likely to worsen, and swine flu is likely to further curtail travel and tourism. High food and energy prices continue, and the impacts of climate change are becoming more evident and more serious.