PRIME Minister (PM) Jeremiah Manele was told that Solomon Islands needs to tap more opportunities in Canada to expand its scope of engagement with Canada.
This was expressed by Solomon Islands Honorary Consul-General in Canada, Ashwant Dwivedi during a courtesy call on PM Manele when he paid a three-day visit to Solomon Islands.
Mr Dwivedi, who is also the Chairman of the Canadian International Training and Education Corp (CITREC), reiterated that Canada is important and a valuable partner to Solomon Islands and Solomon Islands needs to tap more opportunities in Canada to expand its scope of engagement.
He stated that besides labor mobility, there are other areas of cooperation that the two countries need to explore and these are tourism, training and agricultural trade.
He briefed PM Manele on the recent development where the Government of Canada department of food imports has given import license to a Canadian Importer for importation of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The license includes frozen processed goods to be imported from the Pacific, an opportunity for Solomon Islands to maximize.
Mr Dwivedi also briefed the PM on the successes of the CITREC and the plan to expand the program to skilled trades sectors which will open opportunities for plumbers, electricians, joiners, cabinet makers and so forth.
The PM acknowledged the briefing and outlook provided by Mr Dwivedi and praised him for the work he has done so far in representing Solomon Islands interests in Canada, including his continued commitment to strengthen the bi-lateral relations between Canada and Solomon Islands.
He concurred with Mr Dwivedi that Canada is a valuable partner to Solomon Islands and it is in the interest of both countries that their bilateral relationship grows from strength to strength.
PM Manele also concurred with Mr Dwivedi that Solomon Islands must tap the opportunity to enhance agricultural trade with Canada and that responsible government ministries must seize this opportunity.
PM Manele expressed the need to explore other areas such as short-term training for RSIPF.
He further expressed that the two countries need to work closely in the tourism space, tapping the opportunities that comes with Fiji’s direct flight connection to the Canadian route via Nadi.
To date, those who are benefiting under the CITREC include Guadalcanal Province, Makira Province and East Are’are constituency. Guadalcanal Province is in the process to continue the program after the last executive discontinued it.
- GCU
