The 2019 Pacific Update wrapped up with more than 90 presentations and 400 delegates participating.

The annual event offered an opportunity for academics, policy makers and development partners as well as government to deliberate on a number of issues including trade and development, labour mobility and gender empowerment.

University of the South Pacific’s Senior Lecturer and one of the co-conveners of the event, Dr. Neelesh Gounder says that Pacific Update has become one of the premier forums to stimulate regional discussions.

“For instance this year we received over 300 abstracts but we can only manage about 90 to 100 presentations over three days so the conference has become very competitive in terms of the abstracts that we receive.”

Fellow co-convener Professor Stephen Howes from the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre says the Pacific Update has a number of lessons that other countries can take up.

“On Labour Mobility, we saw some good examples at the grassroots level, there are some communities because they’re worried about farming going down while the workers go overseas, the community leaders make the workers work in the gardens before they leave.”

The three day event concluded yesterday at USP’s Laucala campus in Suva.