The hosting of the Asian Development Bank high level meeting is a matter of pride for the entire Pacific.

Board of Governors, chair, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says this meeting has for the first time allowed the world to come to the Pacific and more specifically showcase what Fiji has to offer.

Sayed-Khaiyum adds too often Pacific Islanders have traveled the world for events like this but now it’s a different story.

“You have now become our brand ambassadors. So please take this opportunity to go and talk about it. We of course are not like Japan, Indonesia or Italy as all countries have points of difference but I think we can complement each other as we have different products available.”

Sayed-Khaiyum also talked about a more collaborative approach when it comes to the pride of the Pacific – our tourism.

The Pacific is a very small region and we need to be able to market ourselves with two or three countries. The Pacific Island countries should not be competing with themselves. You can go and do a two week visit to Palau, Samoa, Cambodia or Tonga Fiji and Solomon Islands – whatever the case may be.”

ADB President, Takehiko Nakao has reassured its support for the Pacific.

“We need efforts by the Government regarding regulation and taxation. We also need support of the industry itself to make it sustainable. The support of the community is also vital. The ADB is also important for the tourism industry.”

The Minister along with representatives from Indonesia, Japan, Italy and ADB President Nakao engaged in a robust discussion yesterday on the roles played by individual countries for sustainable tourism.