Remarks delivered by the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Baron Divavesi Waqa
at the 3rd Regional Aviation Ministers Meeting
20 March 2025, PIF Secretariat, Suva.
The Honourable Viliame Gavoka, Chair of 3rd Regional Aviation Ministers Meeting and Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji
Honourable Ministers of Aviation of our Blue Pacific
Senior Officials
Mr Silimanai ‘Ueta Solomone, General Manager of the Pacific Aviation Safety Office
Representatives of our CROP agencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
Ni sa bula Vinaka, Talofa Lava and warm Pacific greetings to you all.
On behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the Pacific Islands Forum, this morning.
I recognise that while this is only your 3rd Regional Aviation Ministers Meeting, it is your first meeting together in-person and I commend the Government of Fiji and PASO for successfully bringing you together in Suva, this week.
Honourable Ministers,
You meet at an important time in our region’s history.
Geostrategic competition and interest in the Pacific continue to grow, as partners tussle for influence in our region.
We continue to contend with an intensifying climate emergency that threatens the very livelihood of our Pacific people.
And we are faced with a changing international development landscape that requires us to be more innovative in how we work together and, with our partners.
In this strategic context, and in our region, the aviation industry is not just about transportation.
Aviation is a lifeline for our island economies – enabling trade, tourism and essential services to move in the region.
It is core to connectivity between our countries and with the rest of the world.
Indeed, it fuels the backbone of many of our island economies through tourism.
Honourable Ministers,
For far too long now, we have considered sectors in our region through siloed perspectives – each sector focusing on its own development and its own unique needs.
However, the changing regional environment demands us to be more synergised and connected in our regional discussions and Talanoa across all our regional ministerial meetings.
It recognises that if we are to truly realise the potential of working together, our development aspirations must be driven by all sectors, together – whether it be trade, finance, aviation, health and so forth.
Indeed, this notion is at the very heart of our 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
The 2050 Strategy sets the foundations for us to rethink and reconsider how we can work together better as one region to advance our collective efforts.
I am heartened by the fact that the Pacific Regional Aviation Strategy aligns with and informs your sectoral contributions to our regionalism vision.
In fact, it was in this very room, that our Forum Leaders endorsed and launched the 2050 Strategy in 2022.
But as we all recognise, strategies and policies are just ideas and unless we drive and institutionalise its implementation, these remain as they are – just ideas.
Key to ensuring the effective implementation of the 2050 Strategy is the ongoing work on the Review of the Regional Architecture.
It is an important body of work that will have implications on how the regional system is better able to support and complement your national efforts. I am hopeful that in your discussions today and tomorrow, that you will also consider an update on these broader regional initiatives.
Honourable Ministers,
In the Pacific, we have always been stronger together.
We must continue to actively engage on enhancing regional collaboration in the aviation sector to improve affordability and access, particularly for our Smaller Island States.
Aviation plays a crucial enabling role as a driver for many of our economies and regional priorities, and it is in forum such as this, that you can truly shape the future of this sector.
The Pacific Islands Forum stands ready to support and facilitate Members and CROP agency discussions on related issues moving forward.
In closing, I extend my deepest appreciation to PASO for the convening of this ministerial meeting.
I wish you well in your deliberations and we look forward to its outcomes in the coming days.
I thank you.
[ENDS]
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