The President of the Congress of New Caledonia the Hon. Roch Wamytan and the Speaker of National Parliament Hon Patteson Oti today (Friday 9th December 2022) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Inter-Parliamentary Partnership.
Amongst its objectives, the partnership encourages exchanges of Parliamentary delegations to promote closer interaction in the interest of further development of inter-parliamentary cooperation and as a means of fostering links between Parliamentarians and Parliamentary staff.
The partnership will also parties contribute to the emergence of a Melanesian inter-parliamentary network.
In his remarks during the signing ceremony, Hon Oti highlighted that “No single Parliament, no matter how large or well resourced, can address future challenges by itself. In this era of globalization and interdependence, cooperative partnerships with other parliamentary institutions around the region is not an option, but a necessity.”
He adds “For small Parliaments like the Solomons, parliamentary partnerships provide a space for exchanges of best practices and experiences”.
The National Parliament also has a similar partnership with the New South Wales Parliament and the Bougainville House of Representatives, and in October this year joined the Pacific Islands Parliaments Group, which was hosted by the Assembly of French Polynesian.
The National Parliament wishes to thank the Congress of New Caledonia, the Melanesian Spearhead Group, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & External Trade for a successful signing ceremony.