The meeting aims at reinforcing capacities among governmental decision-makers in the Pacific in order to develop measures and policies for the safeguarding of their intangible cultural heritage. Governmental representatives from all Pacific States have been invited to attend.

As a follow-up to the first Pacific meeting on the Convention which took place in Nadi, Fiji, December 2007, the participants are informed about the latest developments on the Convention, which has been fully operational since June 2008. They also receive information on the procedures followed by Papua New Guinea to ratify the Convention as well as of other activities in the field of intangible heritage carried out by UNESCO in the Pacific in 2008.

The meeting is followed by a Tongan national consultation meeting on the Convention on 5 December 2008.