Opening Remarks by the Hon. Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum at PALM10
4th Japan – Pacific Island Countries Economic Forum
17 July 2024, Tokyo, Japan
• Colleague Leaders and Representatives of our Forum Island Countries
• To State Minister for Economy Trade and Industry, Mr Ryosuke Kozuki and the Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Masahiro Komura and your officials
• Representatives of Japan and Pacific Islands Countries Private Sector
• Distinguished guests
• Ladies and Gentlemen
• A very good morning to you all, or as we say in my home country, Kia Orana!
• It is a privilege and an honour to be able to offer some reflections at this 4th Japan – Pacific Island Countries Economic Forum this morning.
• I’d like to begin by thanking the Government and People of Japan for the warm hospitality you’ve extended since our arrival. I’d especially like to acknowledge our hosts and organisers of this Forum, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Japan External Trade Organization. Thank you for your coordination effort to ensure this important platform for dialogue and cooperation.
• Indeed, it is through gatherings such as this that we can truly strengthen the ties between our respective countries. This Forum offers us the opportunity to:
o Reconnect and forge new connections;
o Strengthen innovation through learning and knowledge sharing;
o Build partnerships that will support our respective economic aspirations; and
o Translate these partnerships into increased trade and investment in our region.
• To be surrounded this morning by over a hundred successful enterprises and businesses with a wealth of business expertise provides an invaluable opportunity for business representatives from our Pacific and Japan to network, strengthening existing cooperation arrangements and forging new
• However, it will remain just an opportunity unless we are committed to ensuring that we follow through on the discussions that may begin today in the margins of this Forum and will extend into the months ahead.
• If there is anything that I can underscore for us today it is this: successful partnerships are built first and foremost on genuine partnership and mutual respect, understanding and dialogue.
• In fact, these are some of the cornerstones that form the very basis of our PALM partnership between the Government of Japan and the Pacific Islands Forum.
• Japan is and continues to be a leader in innovation and research and development. You are uniquely positioned to contribute to and build capacity within our Pacific region.
• There is much that we as a region can learn from and with you. As we move forward today – I hope that we can realise and deliver on our commitment to strengthen Kizuna between the Pacific and Japan.
• These include, opportunities to strengthen ties and knowledge-sharing in areas such as: health, business innovation, maritime transportation, clean and innovative energy transition pathways, e-Commerce, trade facilitation, fisheries and deep sea minerals development, just to name a few.
• I am hopeful that our discussions today will pave the way for increased investments in the Pacific region. Investments lead to the creation of jobs, which lead to economic growth and eventually, sustained levels of development across our island economies.
• As Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, I look forward to collaborating closely with Japan and all participants, to advance sustainable economic growth and building resilient communities in line with our priorities.
• At the regional level, we have a range of strategies and frameworks that encompass these common priorities, the most prominent being the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
• We will soon also have the Pacific Roadmap for Economic Development, which our Economic Ministers will consider at the end of this month. It will encapsulate the economic development priorities of our region, through the identification of regional priority actions across trade, investment and economics.
• Similarly, at the national level, we have our respective development plans and strategies which capture our long-term aspirations and strategic outlook and will provide country-specific guidance on priority investment areas.
• Ladies and Gentlemen,
• With that in mind, I look forward to the experiences and lessons learnt by those present today that we can all take back to improve our systems and business ventures for improved economic growth and livelihoods.
• I wish you all a very successful forum and encourage everyone to network and build future business opportunities with companies present.
• Meitaki ma'ata and thank you for your attention.
