Plant the tree of life.
This was the message from Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi yesterday.

Speaking at the opening of 42nd APCC (Asia- Pacific Countries) Session/ Ministerial Meeting in Apia, Tuilaepa urged Pacific countries to re-grow the “tree of life.”
“Coconuts have a lot of important uses for the development of the economy and future for any country,” Tuilaepa said.

“It can be used for cooking, deodorant, oil and so forth. It is life for many of us and so we have to push to re-grow it.”
Successful businessman Samau Etuale Sefo said the meeting will broaden the knowledge of how to move forward with businesses using coconuts.

The Managing Director of Pacific Oil said the future of companies like theirs depends on efforts to revive the coconut industry.
Like the Prime Minister, Samau said it was vital for people to re-plant the humble coconut.

“Coconut is life in this business,” he said. “And this meeting will strengthen ways to ensure stable plans to continue to grow it.”
>Samau thanked the community for their support for Pacific Oil. He also thanked the government for the initiative to re-plant coconuts.
The meeting is chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Taua Tevaga Kitiona Seuala.

The Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC) is an intergovernmental organisation of 15 major coconut producing countries accounting for over 90 percent of world coconut production and exports of coconut products.
APCC member countries include the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kiribati, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.

The objectives of the APCC are to promote, coordinate and harmonise all activities of the coconut industry which sustains the lives of millions of small farmers as well as those engaged in production, processing and marketing of coconut products.
These are for the purpose of improving the socio-economic conditions of all stakeholders of the coconut industry in member countries, particularly smallholder coconut farmers.

The meeting will cover coconut development programmes and new policies/legislations adopted in respective countries.
Emphasis will be given to coconut replanting/rehabilitation programmes and strategies to increase coconut farm productivity, farmers’ income, and product diversification.

The meeting, which ends on Friday, will receive and discuss the report and communiqué of the APCC–SPC roundtable meeting on Coconut Industry Development in the Pacific Island countries held in Nadi in June 2009.

Back