Opening Remarks at 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) Summit
18 July, 2024
Hon Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum
Co-Chair of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10)
Your Excellency Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan
Fellow Pacific Islands Forum Leaders
Honourable Ministers and Heads of Delegations
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
Konnichiwa, Kia Orana and warm greetings from the peoples of the Pacific.
It is my honour to address you today in my role as the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, and Co-chair of our 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (or the PALM10).
The PALM process has become an integral part of our shared journey, presenting us with an invaluable opportunity to discuss shared priorities with a long-standing dialogue partner – built on trust, mutual respect, understanding and Kizuna.
As we meet here today, it is clear to all of us that the strategic environment that we find ourselves in today is vastly different from when we first met under the PALM banner three decades ago.
In fact, even when we last met at PALM9, the Pacific region, and indeed the world was grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic has been devastating, and the Pacific is still in the midst of recovery.
For Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, the changing environment has compelled us not to leave our development aspirations to chance. In this respect, our 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent provides the blueprint for how we can work together to achieve our vision for a region of peace, harmony, security, social inclusion and prosperity.
A region where Pacific people can lead free, healthy, and productive lives.
Achieving our 2050 vision requires “genuine and long-lasting partnerships”.
It requires our partners to work with us – and not around us.
It requires our partners to understand our operating context, and work within our mechanisms and systems.
Most importantly, it requires our partners to align to our priorities.
Prime Minister Kishida,
Our meeting today is an opportunity to further strengthen our collaboration in the context of implementing our 2050 Strategy. We are encouraged that Japan has committed and continues to demonstrate its continued willingness to work with us as equals.
Today we have the opportunity to further strengthen our cooperation and deepen this relationship in key areas of critical concern to the Blue Pacific. These include climate resilience and disasters risk management, the sustainable management of our ocean, strengthening economic resilience, ensuring people centred development, and investing in technology and connectivity.
As we meet today, our fellow Leaders will talk more specifically to the region’s key priorities. We look forward to solutions focused dialogue – commensurate of the maturity and steadfast nature of our partnership.
Prime Minister, Excellencies, let us draw inspiration from the fruits of our cooperation over the last three decades of our PALM journey. The value and strength of our partnership will be measured against the joint actions we commit to take over the next three years in support of the regional priorities as articulated in the 2050 Strategy, and its Implementation Plan. In striding forward together, let us ensure our joint efforts support improved development outcomes for our island communities.
Arigato gozaimas, Meitaki ma'ata and thank you.
