Our Issues

Trade and economic justice

Upholding Pacific-led development to protect Pacific economic sovereignty

The promises of the ‘Blue Economy’ have opened up a variety of avenues for external powers to use the rhetoric for development to exploit the markets and resources of our Pacific. The enabling mechanisms of the Blue Economy include fisheries, free trade agreements, debt, and sustainability. PANG challenges the narrow, neoliberal definition of development that is pushed onto the Pacific through the constraints on development options, and defend the right for Pacific peoples to be economically self-determining.

  • Refute the neoliberal narrative that trade liberalisation across existing and emerging industries such as digital trade is essential to Pacific development and addressing the climate crises; Advocate walking away from signing of new free trade agreements that limit the sovereignty of Pacific Island Countries;
  • Promote alternative pathways for Pacific led development that are based on economic sovereignty and protects policy space.
 

Visit the Tradepac website.

Tradepac - Pacific Trade Justice

Pacific-led development is intricately linked to trade and debt. Trade has been a part of our way of life for generations, however, ongoing attempts to have Pacific Island Countries bound by unfair international trade laws threaten Pacific peoples, their environment and their way of life. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are designed to limit what governments can and cannot do with their economies, meaning that many policies and regulations that support local industries, the environment, or community welfare aren't allowed. FTAs are used by rich nations as a way to gain and secure access to Pacific markets and resources with little benefits flowing the other way. The Pacific is currently dealing with a number of trade agreements ranging from membership to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER-Plus), the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), and more.

The Pacific, already having to deal with debt levels exacerbated by the climate crisis, have been suffering from the economic impacts of COVID-19. The responses from Pacific Island governments to their new debt levels must not be driven by donor governments and instead should ensure that debt responses support the most vulnerable, communities and the environment. PANG works to challenge the narrow, neoliberal definition of development that is pushed onto our Pacific through the constraints on development options that legally binding trade agreements enforce. We defend the right for Pacific Island Countries to be economically self-determining.
Tradepac website