Hon. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, CF(Mil), OSt.J, MSD, jssc, psc
Prime Minister of Fiji and Minister for iTaukei Affairs, Sugar Industry and Foreign Affairs
SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF THE 25TH ASIA-PACIFIC
PARLIAMENTARY FORUM
_____________________________________________________________________________
Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa
Monday 16 January 2017
Natadola
1000 Hours
_____________________________________________________________________________
Honourable Speakers;
Honourable and Distinguished Members of Parliament;
Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Ladies and gentlemen.
Bula vinaka and a very good morning to you all.
I’m delighted to be here to officially open the 25th AsiaPacific Parliamentary Forum and to welcome all of our
distinguished international guests to Fiji.
Our Fijian delegation is joined here today by 20 Heads of
Delegation from Russia, Cambodia, Australia, Mexico,
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Japan, Thailand, Colombia, New Zealand, Micronesia,
Indonesia, Chile, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, Korea,
Laos, Peru, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Allow me to say, on behalf of the Fijian people, what a
privilege it is to welcome all of you to our shores. And I
hope that you are all able to experience the famed
hospitality that we Fijians pride ourselves on offering.
Fiji is extremely proud to have renewed our participation
with the APPF following the establishment of true
parliamentary democracy – the first time in our history that
our Constitution provides for common and equal citizenry
and an electoral system that guarantees that every vote has
equal value.
Over the last decade, Fiji has embarked on a progressive
path that has seen our standing in the world and our
integration with the region grow exponentially. And we
are very proud of the recognition you have afforded Fiji by
honouring us as the hosts of this year’s forum.
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The APPF is an esteemed and highly regarded international
body – and its strength is rooted in our shared commitment
to democracy. Each of us is beholden only to the people
who have placed us here, to those we were elected to
serve. And that underlying principle makes Fiji very proud
of our membership and of what we have been able to
achieve alongside our APPF partners.
Those achievements were also made possible – in no small
part – by the dedicated members of the APPF, to whom
we again owe our thanks for their invaluable help bringing
us together here in Natadola. To the working groups,
Drafting Committee, Executive Committee and other
members: vinaka vakalevu for all your hard work. Thank
you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Over the last quarter of a century, the APPF has
consistently remained at the forefront of the global and
regional challenges of our time. Under the Tokyo
Declaration – and the expansions that followed – this
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forum has remained committed to its core mandate to
further regional trust and cooperation by forging common
ground among us, and by using the great diversity of our
region to boost the international standing of the AsiaPacific.
Today, our region is on the cutting edge of development.
Around the world, we are increasingly seen as a model for
economic dynamism and integration. And the APPF has
shown many other countries and international institutions
how elected legislatures can lead the way in deepening
regional cooperation to spur economic development.
Raising the status of women has been a top priority for my
Government, and so I was extremely proud that last year’s
forum
produced
its
first-ever
meeting
of
Women
Parliamentarians – a welcome step towards addressing the
need for greater inclusion of women in public life, and
particularly in political spaces.
We have all just heard from the Honourable Dr. Jiko
Luveni, who we are blessed to have serve as our first
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female Speaker of any Fijian Parliament. As a woman who
serves as a tremendous role model for every Fijian, she has
used her position to become a forceful advocate for greater
acceptance of women in Fijian politics and national life.
And that is a cause I am deeply proud to champion
alongside her.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Throughout our history of working as partners through the
APPF, we have seen over and over again that we are
strongest when we are most united. And that unity and the
trust have allowed us to strike a regional balance in the
Asia-Pacific that works for the benefit of us all. Most of
Fiji’s major trading partners are fellow APPF countries, and
that is not by mere chance.
Certainly, geography has created natural trade patterns.
But we have also had the wisdom to build strong economic
partnerships, and we learned long ago that the transfer of
knowledge, expertise and experiences gives us all a better
chance of improving the lives of our people. And at this
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year’s forum I believe that will ring more true than ever, as
we seek to forge parliamentary partnerships for our mutual
peace and security, in line with Sustainable Development
Goal 16.
Here in Fiji, my Government is very proud of the
significant strides we have made to address social and
economic inequality in our society.
Ten years ago, Fijian society was riddled with institutional
biases
on
the
basis
of
religion,
ethnicity,
gender,
provincialism and socioeconomic status. And while it is a
work in progress, we have knocked down many longstanding barriers to equal opportunity and have laid out a
clear progressive path for our national development.
Today, I am proud to say that the Fijian people stand more
united and more prosperous than at any time in our
history.
On the back of our seventh consecutive year of economic
growth, we have committed ourselves to mainstreaming as
many Fijians as possible by making sure our economic gains
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do not belong to the few or to the elite, but rather to the
many—to all of the hard-working ordinary Fijians to
whom we owe our economic achievement.
We are doing everything in our power to make ambition,
discipline, and ability the only predictors of success in Fijian
society. Merit must be rewarded over social position,
political connections or sense of entitlement. And we are
committed to building a social safety net that protects
those who are most vulnerable.
Whether it be through our free education initiative,
subsidised water and electricity, free medicine for those
below a particular income level or our merit-based
approach to civil service recruitment. At the same time we
are also expanding our road network and connecting the
unconnected to water, electricity and telecommunications.
We are striving to bring greater opportunities into the life
of every Fijian. That is a basic responsibility of government.
And then it is up to each Fijian to determine what he or
she will do with those opportunities. In that way, we
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unleash the talents and energies of our people so they can
improve their own lives and build a better and stronger
Fiji. And while we may be spread out over 100 populated
islands, our long-term goal is to ensure that geographic
location has no bearing on the economic prospects of any
of our people.
I am very proud of all we have achieved, but it is vital that
we match our unprecedented development with equal
efforts to ensure that it is sustainable – that we take steps to
protect the hard-won progress of the Government I lead
and of the Fijian people.
I know that the nations gathered here today share my
belief that national security is the most essential function of
any government—that information relating to public safety
and well-being is vital and must be managed with
transparency and efficiency, and that our economic security
and national security are intrinsically linked. We cannot be
prosperous if we are besieged by crime, corruption and
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internal or external threats, either by state actors or
criminal and terror organisations.
It is our sacred duty to protect the men, women and
children of our respective countries, and that is best
achieved by promoting peace and security at a regional
and international level – because there is no operating in
isolation in the current global security landscape.
Conflict can spill over to reach any corner of the globe at
any time. Criminals operate in cyber-landscapes irrespective
of national borders and outside of geographic limitations.
And many existing laws, regulations and tactics are
woefully out of date and irrelevant to the evolving threats
we face.
That is why this forum is so important. Here we can
deepen the trust and security cooperation among our
nations and find solutions that can save valuable time in
preventing transnational crimes. Here we can share
strategies that have been effective, and explain pitfalls that
should be avoided. Here we can lay the groundwork for
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the next phase of regional security by strengthening existing
frameworks
and
systems,
and
preparing
the
next
generation for the challenges not yet upon us.
The stakes could not be higher. The crises we will discuss in
the coming days threaten years of development progress
throughout our region, are causing countless innocents to
suffer, and jeopardise entire peoples and ways of life.
These issues demand regional action – because any weak
link in the Asia-Pacific leaves us all exposed. We live
together in this part of the world. It is our home, and it
should nurture the hopes and dreams of our people. We
share this most sacred space, and so we share a destiny and
a responsibility to all our people, and Fiji stands ready to
do our part.
That being said, each of us faces different sets of security
concerns. Each of us has to develop tailored solutions that
fit our own situation. We in the Pacific, for example, are
faced with an external threat that far exceeds our own
abilities to confront. I am speaking, of course, about the
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rising seas and severe and erratic weather patterns brought
about by climate change.
When taking stock of the scale of the security risks we face,
none compare to the threat climate change poses to many
low-lying nations throughout the Pacific--nations whose
very existence is at stake due to rising seas. We have no
choice but to give this crisis all the energy, rigorous
attention and sincere commitment that we can muster. And
as you are all aware, Fiji has been elected to preside over
the UN climate change negotiations at COP 23 in
November, and we are also co-hosting the UN Oceans
Conference with Sweden in June.
So clearly these are issues close to our heart and major
cornerstones of our foreign policy – and I’m glad to see
that regional cooperation on climate change has been
given due prominence on our agenda. I very much look
forward to increased cooperation among us on climate
change adaptation, the conservation of our oceans, seas
and marine resources, and disaster-risk reduction.
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The Asia-Pacific region is considered the most disasterprone in the world. This is a fact to which every Fijian can
attest, given the destruction wrought upon us by Tropical
Cyclone Winston last year – the strongest cyclone to ever
strike in the southern hemisphere. So the urgency could not
be greater, and whether it be severe weather events, food
security or eroding coastlines, we all face consequences and
we all have a role to play in addressing the global climate
crisis.
Given our role as parliamentarians, given our commitment
to democratic principles, and given the enormous good the
APPF has already achieved, I am highly optimistic about
what we can accomplish over the next few days. But we
can’t stop there. We have to turn the outcomes of these
plenary sessions into tangible policies and programmes that
keep our economies sustainable and bring as many of our
citizens as possible into the fold of economic prosperity.
Only then will we live up to the faith placed in us all as
elected officials – that great responsibility we owe to our
citizens and to each other.
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Again, let me welcome you all to Fiji. During your time
with us I hope you are able to take some time to enjoy
some of the stunning natural beauty that surrounds you
here in Natadola, and experience the relaxation and the
tranquillity that has made our islands such a draw for
tourists from all over the world.
Thank you all for being here, I look forward to our
discussions. And I now have the great pleasure of declaring
the 25th Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum open.
Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.
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