SUVA, Fiji (Fiji Times, June 9) - A meeting of Pacific island finance ministers starts today in Funafuti, the capitol of Tuvalu, where one of the topics of discussions will be the setting up of a regional private sector organization in Suva.
Tuvalu Prime Minister Ma'atia Toafa will officially open the event, which is seen as a boost for the tiny country’s visitor industry.
About 80 representatives from the 14 Pacific island countries, non-governmental organizations, observers and members of the media are on the island for the meeting.
Some government officials said this was a large number of people to be in Tuvalu at any one time.
The last time a similar number of people were on the island was in 1984, when the Pacific Islands Forum meeting was held there.
At that time, the airport runway was grass. But the runway, through funding from the Taiwan Government, is now concrete.
At a dinner function to welcome the participants on Monday night,...