4th Trade Policy Review of Solomon Islands. Delivered by the UK on 11th and 13th December 2024.
UK Day One Statement
Chair, I would like to add a warm welcome from the UK to the delegation from Solomon Islands, led by His Excellency Moses Kouni Mose. We appreciate the efforts of the government of Solomon Islands and the WTO Secretariat in preparing the Trade Policy Review reports, and we are grateful to you, Chair, and our esteemed Discussant, Ambassador Tavita-Levy, for guiding us through this Review with thoughtful insights.
We also wish to congratulate Solomon Islands on their recent elections and commend the ongoing efforts and progress made since the last Trade Policy Review.
The reports underline the challenges faced since then, but we have also been pleased to see light shone on the strengths of the economy - notably the robust agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector and consistent improvements in the Human Development Index. We hope that this impressive progress positions Solomon Islands well for a graduation from LDC status in 2027.
The UK is proud of our bilateral relationship with Solomon Islands, including as members of the Commonwealth. We see trade as a key enabler of development and climate adaptation, and that underpins our support. Where possible, we have sought to partner with Solomon Islands to support their own sustainable growth priorities - also taking account of vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, mentioned this morning and which we also acknowledge.
For example, Solomon Islands have taken proactive steps to ban single-use plastics, a significant move towards environmental sustainability and the protection of marine ecosystems. This builds on joint work through the UK's Blue Planet Fund, whereby the UK and Solomon Islands can work in partnership to share knowledge, including traditional knowledge, and build capacity and expertise to improve ocean health.
The UK will support Solomon Islands in achieving their vision and a number of priorities in their National Ocean Policy and National Fisheries Policy. We also encourage Solomon Islands to further this activity through joining dialogues here at the WTO such as DPP (Dialogue on Plastic Pollution) and the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD).
We particularly look forward to further collaboration on fisheries. Already in the 2023 Geneva Fish weeks, Solomon Islands delegates were very active, and we were pleased the Solomon Islands Director of Trade joined negotiations at MC13.
I mentioned our valued cooperation in the Commonwealth. And I should add congratulations to Ambassador Tavita-Levy and her government for the successful Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October. We note the CHOGM Leaders Oceans Declaration included a call for both entry into force of the 2022 WTO Fisheries Agreement, and adoption of the second agreement currently under discussion.
We look forward to working with Solomon Islands bilaterally and as a Commonwealth partner, to deliver on that ambition both to ratify the 2022 Agreement, and help secure the further agreement on overcapacity and overfishing next week.
Additionally, we commend Solomon Islands for its initiatives to support women's financial inclusion, particularly through the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, financial literacy training, and the MSME Credit Line Facility. On this point, I should add that, as a co-chair of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, the UK Ambassador and Permanent Representative Simon Manley, who regretfully cannot be present today, would celebrate Solomon Islands' commitment to women's empowerment and would encourage the sharing of these positive experiences.
The UK believes that trade, and integration into the multilateral trading system, is fundamental to economic development. That is why we have sought to play a direct role supporting local businesses in the Solomon Islands with marketing, regulatory compliance, market intelligence, and finding buyers to boost exports to the UK. For this, the recent UK cocoa mission which supported 17 cocoa buyers to visit Solomon Islands was a particular success.
This mission deepened both our relationships and understanding in the cocoa market and has certainly turned the heads of UK chocolatiers to the Solomon Islands. We commend the government's commitment to improving market access and supporting small-scale farmers. Feedback from the mission was encouraging about the quality of the product, but some prices may be comparatively uncompetitive compared to others in the region and we would be interested to know if Solomon Islands has considered whether licensing fees might be impacting cocoa exports.
Our belief in the enabling role of trade is also why we support the Pacific Islands Forum in Geneva, through the Trade and Investment Advocacy Fund (TAF2+), from which benefits include the key played by the Pacific Island States in negotiating the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies at MC12.
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)
We look forward to deepening our trade relationship, and supporting Solomon Islands' further integration into the multilateral trading system. Solomon Islands has shown impressive commitment to protecting the environment and we are pleased by recognition, including in your introductions this morning, of the UK-Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). We are very pleased with this. However, Solomon Islands still largely trade with us under the DCTS (Developing Countries Trading Scheme) so we encourage further consideration of ways to implement the EPA for even greater benefits.
We also welcome Solomon Islands' commitment to the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, and would encourage them to consider joining the plurilateral initiatives on Services Domestic Regulation and E-commerce.
Finally, the UK deeply appreciates all the insightful responses offered on our Advanced Written Questions and we hope these can allow us to understand one another better and facilitate further cooperation and improvement of our trading relationship.
Chair, may I conclude by thanking Solomon Islands for the cooperation and transparency displayed throughout this process. We appreciate the open dialogue and look forward to continued collaboration and mutual support as we work together to promote sustainable economic growth and development. We wish Solomon Islands well and hope this to be a successful and fruitful 4th Trade Policy Review.
