An incredible week for Beca at the Blue Pacific Conference

From 25 to 27 September, Beca attended the inaugural ‘Developing Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure in the Blue Pacific Conference’ in Brisbane - the largest ever gathering of Pacific government and business representatives held in Australia.

As silver sponsors of this three-day event at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Beca was represented by eight team members alongside Terence Erasito, our local Fiji consultancy partner from Erasito Consultants Ltd.

Together, the team joined over 500 delegates from across the region including foreign ministers, senior government officials and business leaders; all who attended with the common goal of building the connections and partnerships crucial to advancing the pipeline of infrastructure projects underway across the Pacific.

Sharing the big stage

Highlights included Beca sharing the big stage on day three of the conference. This began with Annika Lane, Principal – Spatial & Policy Planning presenting our work on the Niue Waste Management and Resource Recovery Project – a project in partnership with Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and PacWastePlus that aims to make everyday better for Niue locals by developing a national framework for cost-effectively managing waste and pollution.

Annika’s presentation was followed by Annette Jones, Senior Principal – Urban Design who shared the story of our work helping deliver the Marshall Islands Mid Corridor Housing Project in partnership with Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority (KADA). Taking place on the island of Ebeye, this project involves developing cost-effective, sustainable, high quality, low maintenance housing for Ebeye residents appropriate for local conditions.

A distinguished guestlist

Amongst the delegates list included Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT), New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade (MFAT), Asia Development Bank (ADB), World Bank and various government ministers from Pacific nations, including Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga.

The conference was organised by the Australia Pacific Islands Business Council, Australia Fiji Business Council and Australia Papua New Guinea Business Council, in collaboration with major sponsor the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP).

Partnering to deliver a more resilient region

With the Pacific Island nations on the frontline of climate change, most notably from rising sea levels, working in partnership with local authorities to upgrade their physical infrastructure whilst building the capability and resilience of local economies is crucial for the broader security and stability of our region.

Reflecting on the conference, Annika Lane said, “It was a great opportunity to hear directly from our Pacific neighbours about the challenges that they face on a daily basis and to discuss ways in which we can work together to address those challenges. It was also an opportunity to reinforce our commitment to the Pacific through supporting capacity and capability development as well as providing strategic and technical solutions”.
Her thoughts were echoed by Annette Jones who added, “It was an opportunity to illustrate what we are doing and how we are working with Pacific clients to ultimately achieve better outcomes for people”.

Thank you to the organisers and everyone who attended. We look forward to building on our partnerships with like-minded organisations, to continue delivering sustainable infrastructure that makes everyday better for local communities across the Pacific!

Learn more about Beca’s growing Pacific Development experience, and how we’re partnering to deliver a more resilient region here.