SUVA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- A two-day regional workshop on the next phases of the Post Cotonou Negotiations with the European Union (EU) kicked off here on Thursday with representatives from 13 Pacific Island States.

The Post Cotonou negotiations were launched in September 2018 between African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and EU member states. It has recently been agreed that the new agreement will be signed in Samoa in 2020. The negotiations will set out the tone, priorities and parameters of the relationship, including development cooperation between the EU and the ACP countries over the next 20 years.

"Discussions over the coming days will be key in ensuring our Blue Pacific voice is heard and our priorities, the things that matter most to the Pacific People, are clearly reflected in future PACP-EU relationship arrangement," said Dame Meg Taylor, secretary general of Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

Taylor said on Thursday that at the forefront of their minds are the principles and objectives of the Framework for Pacific Regionalism, wherein Pacific Leaders want to see their Blue Pacific future determined by their own priorities.

"We want development to be more effective, more coordinated and make a real difference to the people of the region," she said.