Talofa again my fellow Pacific family. We have now come to the end of our Pacific SIDS Solutions Forum, and we forever thank our Heavenly Father for the wisdom shared, guidance and protection upon us all. So please let’s give a round of applause for that.
Mr. Jong Jin Kim, FAO Assistant Director General and Regional Representative
Ms. Simona Marinescu, UN Resident Coordinator
Excellencies – Ministerial colleagues,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
This really has been an incredible three days.
On behalf of the people of Samoa, I would like to thank each and every one who joined us in person and virtually, in sharing their wealth of experience, home-grown solutions and innovations to transform our food systems in order to maintain food, nutrition and income security. This forum has provided us with excellent opportunities to interact with each other. We have learned a lot and have known each other during these past few days, and I pray that we will continue to interact and deepen our Agrifood Systems dialogue.
Agrifood Systems is awakening our Pacific Island countries to the fact that we must work together to transform the way we produce, consume and really think about food. Since food systems can unite us as communities and people, it can also bring us together around finding workable solutions.
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We, the Pacific community are unique in our own ways….The Pacific Way, and we always have that sense of closeness and unity. These have made us stand-out from the rest of the world.
So, in order for all our efforts in transforming our Agrifood Systems, we should come together to support each other with the assistance and support from our development partners. As one of the saying goes, “Alone we can do so Little, Together we can do so Much”.
We have the advantage of trading between island countries, not only in goods but in services as well.
Let us recall on how the agrifood systems process has developed and expanded during the pandemic. Even though the pandemic has taken precious lives and physically pushed people apart, the process has actually brought people back together. This is because FOOD is central and it should be everyone’s business. No Food…..No Life
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of us all, I would like to sincerely thank the United Nations through the FAO for the great initiative, and for the tremendous assistance provided to our Pacific Island countries in transforming our Food Systems. I would also like to thank all our development partners for the continued support throughout the years for the development of the Pacific SIDS.
For our Pacific family, it was always a pleasure for Samoa to having you all visit and enjoy our Beautiful Samoa.
Thank you again, and have a safe and pleasant journey home. God bless.
