Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will attend the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) in Tokyo, Japan, next week.
Every three years, Japan hosts PALM meetings where Pacific leaders and Japan gather to exchange views on regional issues, aiming to strengthen ties.
The first PALM meeting was held in 1997, and the PALM9 was conducted online in July 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Rabuka was among the Pacific leaders present at the inaugural PALM in 1997.
“For us, it’s just a continuation of the first PALM,” he said. “It’s our regional cooperation, and we’ll be focusing on the topic of tropical interest, which is the use of the region for strategic positioning. We need to be aware of those.”
The PALM meeting allows Japan and Pacific leaders to engage in discussions on climate change, development aid, and strategic security for the region.
It is also a platform where Pacific leaders highlight the issues they face as countries and discuss how the region can assist them.
“I felt duty-bound to be there, being one of the founding leaders who attended the first one, and the whole issue of regionalization, regional cooperation, and development,” Mr. Rabuka said. “Our role in the universe and globally, it will be good for us to go there.”
Japanese Ambassador to Fiji Rokuichiro Michii expressed gratitude for Mr. Rabuka’s attendance, stating it demonstrated his commitment to regionalism.
“We are grateful he made it possible to travel because Fiji’s bilateral relations are very important,” Mr. Michii said. “In this region, Fiji plays a central role; it’s a source of stability. Therefore, his presence is very, very important.”
The PALM meeting will take place from next Tuesday to Thursday.