Melanesian Spearhead Group

Melanesian Spearhead Group
Map indicating the membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
Seat	Port Vila, Vanuatu
Membership	4 sovereign states  Fiji  Papua New Guinea  Solomon Islands  Vanuatu 1 party  Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front 1 associate  Indonesia (5 of 34 provincies) 1 observer  United Liberation Movement for West Papua
Leaders
• Director General	Peter Forau
Establishment
• as Melanesian Spearhead Group	1986
Area
• Total	585,560 km2 (226,090 sq mi)
Population
• 2010 estimate	8,348,000
• Density	35/km2 (90.6/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2010 estimate
• Total	US$ 20.512 billiona
• Per capita	US$ 2,457
Currency	5 currencies Rupiah Fijian dollar Kina Solomon Isl dollar Vatu
Time zone	4 time zones UTC+9 UTC+10 UTC+11 UTC+12
Website http://www.msgsec.info/
If considered a single entity.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is an intergovernmental organization, composed of the four Melanesian states of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front of New Caledonia. In June 2015, Indonesia was recognized as an associate member.

It was founded as a political gathering in 1986. On 23 March 2007, members signed the Agreement Establishing the Melanesian Spearhead Group, formalizing the group under international law. It is headquartered in Port Vila, Vanuatu. A secretariat building has been constructed by the People's Republic of China and handed over to the MSG in November 2007. The first MSG Director General was Rima Ravusiro of Papua New Guinea. Since September 2011, Peter Forau of Solomon Islands heads the MSG.

Melanesian Spearhead Group was formed with focus to promote economic growth among Melanesian countries. The purpose of the group are:

One of the key features of the MSG is the Melanesian Spearhead Group Trade Agreement, a sub-regional preferential trade agreement established to foster and accelerate economic development through trade relations and provide a political framework for regular consultations and review on the status of the Agreement, with a view to ensuring that trade both in terms of exports and imports is undertaken in a genuine spirit of Melanesian Solidarity and is done on a most favoured nation (MFN) basis. Negotiations are held regularly between the members' leaders to consider the progress and developments of the agreement. After a revision in 2005, it covers 180 articles free of fiscal duty.

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) was conceived in 1986 between the three Melanesian Pacific Island Countries namely Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. The MSG Trade Agreement was signed in 1993 by Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. At the 6th Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Trade and Economic Officials’ Meeting on 16 April 1997 in Honiara, the Fiji delegation indicated its willingness to accede to it. This initiative was endorsed at the 1997 MSG Leaders Summit. Fiji became a formal member of the MSG Trade Agreement on 14 April 1998. The 9th MSG Trade & Economic Officials meeting was held in Papua New Guinea on 29 and 30 November 2000. This meeting saw the acceptance of the expansion of the MSG Product Schedule tariff headings from four digit to six digits, thereby facilitating MSG trade by removing the ambiguity in product identification at Customs points of entry. The agreement is General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) consistent and has been approved and accorded recognition by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Regional Arrangements to be compatible and meeting the requirements of Article 24 of the GATT/WTO Agreement.