Plans in place for state visit to Australia, China and the US

Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka says plans are in place to visit Australia, China, the United States and other friendly nations after he has had two state visits in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.

While delivering his National Address, Rabuka says the main purpose of his travel is to build trust and restore regional solidarity, strengthen bilateral relations and enhance Fiji’s standing in both regional and international arena.

He says as Minister responsible for Environment and Climate Change, he travelled to Panama to join world leaders so that we can work together in addressing the biggest challenge of our time, which is Climate Change.

He adds the meeting in Panama was organised to consolidate international cooperation for the preservation of our oceanic resources.

The Prime Minister says the continued survival and sovereignty of our small island states in the Pacific is at risk and this requires our attention, not only at the regional, but also at the international level.

He says these are tasks that cannot be achieved in isolation and Fiji must work with other nations for effective solutions.

He further says adaptation strategies are based on advanced science and technologies that we can only access through international cooperation.

Rabuka adds we must also share our indigenous knowledge and wisdom in the area of climate mitigation and adaptation.

He further adds that most importantly, international cooperation is necessary to access climate change financing.

The Prime Minister says his first state visit to Papua New Guinea last month also coincided with a meeting of the Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation (FIPIC) and US-Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ dialogue, both held in Port Moresby.

He says these important meetings are part and parcel of Fiji’s commitment to the regional Development and Security agenda.

During Rabuka’s state visit to New Zealand earlier this month,he met with Prime Minister Hipkins and a number of government dignitaries, as well as the Fijian diaspora in Auckland and Wellington.

He saus through the Duavata Partnership Agreement with New Zealand, we have deepened our bilateral partnership.

He says we have expanded areas of cooperation, including trade and investment, labour mobility, defence, climate change, humanitarian relief and disaster response.

NZ Prime Minister Hipkins also announced additional funding of NZD$11.1m (FJD $15.1m) for climate adaptation and mitigation programs including renewable energy and infrastructure resilience projects.

This is in addition to the ongoing direct budget support and official development assistance that the New Zealand Government provides Fiji.

Rabuka says that earlier this year, the Australian Prime Minister Albanese briefly stopped over in Nadi where they met at the Blackrock Facility.

In addition to the AUD$354m (FJD$542m) in direct budget assistance to Fiji since 2020 to assist Fijians through the pandemic, PM Albanese announced an additional AUD$81m in direct budget support. This is in addition to the AUD$132m (FJD$197m) in official development assistance to Fiji.