PM Rabuka’s Press Statement- New Prime Minister’s Visit To Fiji-(06-06-2024)

Bula Vinaka,

It is my privilege this morning to welcome Prime Minister Luxon on his first Official Visit to Fiji. Prime Minister Luxon and I briefly spoke on the phone when I was in Auckland on a private visit earlier this year, and it has been a genuine pleasure meeting him in person today. This visit is a testament to the enduring relationship between our countries.

We recognize the deep historical, cultural, and interpersonal connections we share with New Zealand. These bonds manifest through our familial ties, artistic and cultural exchanges, sporting endeavours, educational pursuits, and business interactions, to name a few. For many Fijians, New Zealand represents more than just a neighbouring nation; it is a second home.

My own association with New Zealand dates back to the early days of my army and athletics career. I trained as an officer in New Zealand and competed as an athlete in the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch. These experiences have further solidified my personal ties to your wonderful country, Prime Minister.

Next year marks a significant milestone as we celebrate 55 years of diplomatic relations between Fiji and New Zealand. Notably, New Zealand was among the first few countries to formalize their relationship with us and in our meeting today, I reaffirmed the Coalition Government’s full commitment to the Duavata Partnership, which will also mature next year and our officials will be reviewing the partnership with the proposed High Level Consultations expected to take place later this year.

During our discussions earlier today, we affirmed our intention to pursue greater coordination on our respective foreign policy priorities at the bilateral, regional, and multilateral arenas. Our bilateral cooperation spans a range of sectors, including trade and investment, climate change and disaster resilience, labour mobility, security and defence, fisheries, agriculture and health. The expanse of our cooperation clearly shows the depth of our partnership.

Both our Governments are prioritising sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Fiji is indeed appreciative of the New Zealand Government for the substantial support offered to us. I am pleased to note that Fiji continues to be New Zealand’s largest trading partner in the Pacific, and the contributions to support Fiji’s efforts toward economic resilience will certainly enhance our trade relations.

I am pleased that the New Zealand-Fiji Business Council delegation is in Fiji this week to explore further investment opportunities. Fiji’s economic resilience has been strengthened with ongoing support in agricultural development and in micro, small, and medium enterprise development.

On labour mobility, our numbers have grown to just over 900 under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme, and we welcome New Zealand’s commitment to further support this initiative.

In terms of security, Fiji values our partnership that has been instrumental in the monitoring and surveillance of our exclusive economic zone and in combating transnational crimes like drug trafficking. These are important areas that we will continue to work closely in.

We also had the opportunity to discuss my vision for an Ocean of Peace across our Blue Pacific Continent and I look forward to discussing this further at the PIF Leaders Meeting in Tonga this August.

In our meeting, we reaffirmed that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and wellbeing of the Pacific and we are committed to reducing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with our Paris Agreement commitments.

We discussed the importance of the international rules- based system, which has delivered peace and security
to the Pacific region and beyond. In this context, we’ve expressed concerns over the recent unrest in New Caledonia and call for meaningful dialogue between the French Government and Kanak Leaders, in accordance with the Nouméa Accord.

We have had productive discussions today and I look forward to further informal discussions at the Fiji-New Zealand Business Council Joint Annual Conference in Nadi later this week.

Vinaka Vakalevu, I now hand the floor to the Honourable Prime Minister of New Zealand.