Pacific nations seek integration

By Phil Mercer
BBC correspondent, Sydne

The Pacific nations want to increase regional co-operation

Leaders from 16 Pacific nations are continuing their meeting in Samoa to work on a plan to promote better governance in the troubled region.

An appeal was made at the summit on Saturday to help the tiny island nation of Nauru, which is on the verge of financial ruin.

The 35th annual Pacific Islands forum is looking at ways to enhance regional political and economic integration.

The member countries are among the smallest and poorest in the world.

The aim of the conference is to build on a new sense of partnership between some of the world's smallest and remote countries and their bigger neighbours, Australia and New Zealand.

Nauru test

There is a renewed feeling of co-operation across the South Pacific.

This is due in part to the successful multi-national intervention in the Solomon Islands last year.

Police officers and soldiers from Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Fiji joined their counterparts from around the region to restore stability to the troubled archipelago.

Nauru, the world's smallest independent republic, is likely to be the next test for the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum.

During the 1970s and 80s the tiny country enjoyed vast wealth thanks to rich deposits of phosphates.

When they began to run out serious problems started to emerge.

Billions of dollars were invested unwisely and Nauru began a rapid decline.

Australian officials arrived there last month to try to help the island avoid bankruptcy but greater regional assistance may be needed to guarantee its long-term viability.

New Zealand's Prime Minister, Helen Clark, said the Pacific Islands Forum had developed into an influential and capable organisation.

She has insisted that the past year would go down in the history of the 16-nation group as a time when its leaders decided to confront regional problems together.