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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Secretary-General concludes visit to the Kingdom of Tonga

21 August 2000

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Don McKinnon, visited Tonga from 18-19 August 2000. His visit served to underscore the important role small states play in the Commonwealth.

The Secretary-General met with senior government ministers, members of Parliament, the Speaker of the Assembly, senior civil servants and members of the Commonwealth diplomatic corps. He discussed wide-ranging Commonwealth issues with all those he met and was briefed on political and economic developments in Tonga.

On the political side, Mr McKinnon observed that Tonga was making steady progress towards the further democratisation of its Legislative Assembly, while making sure to keep intact existing practices that have served the Kingdom well. On the economic side, the Secretary-General noted Tonga's positive future GDP growth estimates and that the Kingdom was strongly committed to orientating itself to take advantage of the benefits globalisation can bring.

The Secretary-General discussed preparations for the upcoming Commonwealth Senior Officials Meeting to be held in Apia, Samoa in October. He will be returning to the Pacific for that meeting and looks forwards to seeing the Tongan delegation there.

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