REMARKS: Secretary General Baron Waqa at PIFLM53 Leaders Plenary

•    Honourable Forum Leaders, of our Leaders;
•    Forum Ministers;
•    Ladies and gentlemen.

•    Malo e lelei, Ekamawir omo, and warmest greetings to you all.

•    We have reached the halfway point of our meeting, and what a week it has been so far. I congratulate you all for the important progress we are making, setting a solid platform for our Leaders’ Retreat tomorrow in Vava’u.

•    I know that we have heard many speeches this week. We’ve digested a lot of information and learnt from the different conversations.

•    It is they who remind us at the end of each day, why we have dedicated our lives to the public service.

•    Why we care about the issues impacting the most vulnerable in our societies.

•    Why there is no time to waste, in pursuing prosperity for all our people.

•    And so my only request today is that we remind each other once more, why we do what you do. It is this frame of mind that we will need our Leaders to guide our work and continue to lead our vaka towards the future that meets our collective vision and aspirations.

•    And with unity in mind, I am pleased that the last two days has set the platform for us to be ready to deliberate on the most critical issues facing our region.

•    I look forward to tomorrow with great anticipation.

•    Malo ‘Aupito, Tubwa kor, thank you and good day to you all.