Representative Faimealelei Anthony Allen, who represented the Fono at the Pacific Parliamentary Forum in New Zealand last week, says he wants the territory to look at options for increasing trade in the region.
Faimealelei was among 40 Pacific parliamentarians attending the Forum in Wellington.
He told Radio New Zealand International he was surprised to learn how much trade his fellow Pacific MPs’ countries seemed to be involved in.
He said, “You know it is just interesting because every country wanted to trade something to another country. We don’t have a lot in American Samoa to trade to other countries but we import a lot. So that is something I need to look at and share with my colleagues back home.”
Faimalelei said he also observed at the Forum that whilst American Samoa’s political systems and structures were completely different from most Pacific countries he still saw similarities around governance and the shared challenges such as climate change.
