PM Bainimarama’s Closing Remarks at the FAO Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Solutions Forum

Bula vinaka once again.

On behalf of the Fijian Government and people, I would like to thank you for setting the first SIDS Solutions Forum off to such a productive start.

Since we began the Forum this morning, Hurricane Ida has made landfall as the strongest storm to ever strike the American State of Louisiana. Fijians have dealt before with the worst the climate can throw at us, and we are praying that lives are spared from Ida’s devastation.

As we close out Day one of the Forum, I want to acknowledge Dr. QU Dongyu, Director-General of FAO, and his team as organisers of this virtual gathering. I also want to thank the ITU, and Secretary General, Houlin Zhao, for their leadership to steer this meeting to success.

This Forum opens a new frontier of cooperation between our countries –– of knowledge sharing, of innovation and of digitization that carries us through the difficulty of the pandemic and onto the noble aims of the 2030 agenda.

Our challenges are enormous but not insurmountable. We will meet them with courage and creativity. And we will overcome them, one solution at a time. We will recover from the pandemic. We will build sustainable, digitally-integrated food systems. We will continue to strengthen our climate resilience. And we will seize the gains that sustainable development can deliver for equity, for employment and economic prosperity. We will not be left behind.

To the Heads of International and Regional Organisations at this Forum, we look forward to your continued support and solidarity. I want to give a special thank you to the Governments of China and Ireland and also the Director Generals of our Regional Organisations for making the time to join us today. We are exploring SIDS solutions that answer global challenges, and we need the world with us in the form of partnerships, resources, and finance that is fast-deploying, affordable, and accessible.

I’m speaking to you from Fiji’s capital, Suva. A short boat ride from here, on the island of Ovalau, is one of the world’s first agro-photovoltaic projects.
It is land that is used for the dual purposes of farming and generating solar power, and it is already generating half of the island’s power. That, my friends, is the SDGs in action. That is the type of innovation that SIDS are capable of. And that is why I once again call on developed nations to deliver on their 100-billion-US-dollar climate finance pledge to fund innovation in our island nations. Deliver on that promise and let SIDS show you what more we can do.

We’ve heard limitless potential at this Forum. Behind every idea and experience shared today we have heard passionate commitment and dedication to the cause of sustainable development. And there is much more to come. As we close this session and prepare to hear from the wonderful innovators and speakers to come, let us continue to meet in a spirit of openness and cooperation. As highlighted in the SAMOA Pathway, we must strengthen our partnerships with funding agencies, donors and anyone else who can help us bring these solutions to life.

Our nations are all used to being underdogs –– small nations that punch above our weight on the world stage. Together, there’s nothing small about the commitment we share towards sustainable development. And there will be nothing slight about the example our cooperation sets for the international community.

I said this morning that SIDS citizens live chapters in the same book of experience. I’m looking forward to writing our next chapter together.

Thank you once again to all of you for making this meeting a success. We hope to have the chance to host you in Fiji someday soon.

Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.