Prime Minister Sogavare to open PINA convention in Honiara

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will open the Pacific Islands News Association PINA convention to be held in Honiara 24 to 26 May.

The Media Association of Solomon Islands (MASI) Secretariat in Honiara confirmed the arrangement saying Mr Sogavare is providing strong support for the convention and its theme.

The PINA convention focuses on the role of the media in building Pacific economies.

The head of the MASI Secretariat, Alfred Sasako, said this is an area Mr Sogavare brings expertise to as a former permanent secretary for finance and former finance minister.

He said, as finance minister in the late 1990s, Mr Sogavare worked with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank to try and reform and rebuild the Solomon Islands economy.

He is now focusing on making the Solomon Islands economy both strong and independent after the ethnic troubles and arrival of RAMSI.

Meanwhile, Mr Sasako said registrations from around the region and internationally are coming into the MASI Secretariat.

He said the MASI Secretariat aims to make this year’s PINA convention one of the best and biggest media meetings in the region. Solomon Islands has hosted the convention once in the early 1990’s.

Source: GCU