Equatorial Guinea passes on mantle to capable hands of PNG

Caption:  Chairman of 8th ACP Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, June 5, 2016 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

THE African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States 8th Summit has seen the mantle of chairmanship passed onto to Papua New Guinea under the leadership of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

Speaking on behalf of the 7th Summit Chairman and President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatorial Guinea Prime Minister Vincent Ehate congratulated Papua New Guinea on taking up the Chairmanship of the global group upon becoming the 8th host.

“We would also like to congratulate our host, his excellency, the Honorable Peter O’Neill, Prime Minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea on becoming the President of the 8th Summit of the ACP group.”

“Papua New Guinea is this lovely pacific and unified country with great experience in working with groups, which contributes to maintain peace, stability, and development in the group and in the world in general.”

“We trust that under his (O’Neill) wise leadership the ACP group will be able to realize with success its ongoing structural process in order to put a new dynamic stamp on the international relations of the ACP group,” Prime Minister Ehate said.

Ehate said that with the cutoff date of the Cotonou Agreement with the European Union to expire in 2020- leaders of ACP states were encouraged to take into consideration the role to sustainable development with peace and security.

“This will open the way for the leaders of ACP countries and their potential partners to focus their minds on three main issues,” he said.

“Firstly, fair and sustainable development for the benefit for our people, strengthening the role of the ACP group in terms of good global governance for the benefit of development, and peace, security, and political stability as prerequisites for development.”

“Whatever the organization or association we decide on the future-we must identify the resources and means which will ensure that our cooperation for development is and remains guided by search for maximum impart and support to development within the contents of a strategy which countries and regions must promote.”