Opening remarks by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Baron Waqa at the 2024 Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting
09 August 2024, Suva, Fiji.
Honourable Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and Forum Chair;
Honourable Prime Minister of Tonga and incoming Forum Chair;
Forum Foreign Ministers;
Excellencies.
Ekamiwir Omo and a very good morning to you all.
At the outset, please allow me to thank you so much for being here today.
As you know, this is my first Foreign Ministers meeting in my capacity as Secretary General.
It was wonderful to share a meal with you this morning, and to break bread together.
These opportunities to be with one another, are precious to me.
I can assure you that my tenure as Secretary General will be founded on nurturing unity and leadership. And we will continue to have more opportunities like this morning, to strengthen our bond.
After all, the collective strength of the Forum is drawn from its unity.
It is drawn from Forum centrality.
And it will only prosper through Forum solidarity.
Honourable Ministers, we are in a period of transition, and the guidance we require from you today is significant.
The presence today of our Forum Chair and incoming Forum Chair, should indicate to us all, the significance of this meeting. I know that we all have high expectations.
Honourable Ministers, I call on you to be frank in your discussions, to ensure that we provide our Leaders with strong, firm and decisive outcomes, as they prepare to meet in Tonga.
With those few words, I wish you well in your deliberations.
I thank you.
[ENDS]
