DFA Provides Training for Samoan Diplomats on Protocol and Conference Management Ahead of CHOGM Hosting

WELLINGTON 27 March 2024 – Ahead of Samoa’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs conducted a training workshop for Samoan diplomats on Diplomatic Protocol and Conference Management in Apia, Samoa last 21 to 22 March 2024. 

A total of 35 Samoan government officers from their ministry of foreign affairs and other ministries participated in the workshop, many of whom were part of the country’s national organizing committee for the CHOGM. The workshop consisted of modules on Basic Diplomatic Protocol, Ceremonial Protocol, Social Protocol, and Events and Conference Management, and included a special portion on the Philippine experience and best practices on hosting international meetings, such as ASEAN and APEC. 

In her welcome video message to the participants, Philippine Ambassador Kira Christianne D. Azucena, Philippine Ambassador-designate to Samoa, said “This workshop is the product of months of coordination between the foreign ministries and diplomatic missions in New Zealand of our two countries, and represents our abiding commitment to support each other as developing countries in the Pacific.” 

In his closing video message, Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, congratulated the participants of the training workshop. “The Philippines, as a reliable partner in the Pacific, appreciates the opportunity to pursue closer engagement with our brethren to whom we share this vast ocean of opportunities and wonders. Samoa is in an exceptional position to amplify the strategic, economic, and cultural value that the Pacific showcases to the world,” he said. 

The workshop was the product of months of coordination between the foreign ministries and diplomatic missions of the Philippines and Samoa in New Zealand, and constitutes an expression of solidarity of the Philippines with Samoa as the latter takes on the important responsibility of hosting the CHOGM this year. 

CHOGM convenes the leaders of 56 Commonwealth countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific once every two years, hosted by different member countries on a rotating basis. Samoa will be the first Small Island Developing State to host his meeting, and has identified the theme “One Resilient Common Future: Transforming our Common Wealth.” END

For more information, visit https://www.wellingtonpe.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philembassy.org.nz, or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNZ/.