Members of the Baha’i Faith Community
Honourable Ministers of Cabinet
The Heads and Representatives of Navies and Maritime Forces of the Pacific
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to acknowledge and thank the Bahai Faith Community for leading us with a prayer this evening in this serene and peaceful location.
It is a privilege and pleasure to deliver this keynote address to officially open the South West Pacific Heads of Maritime Forces meeting. On behalf of the Government and people of Samoa, I extend to you all a very warm welcome.
It is indeed an honour for Samoa to host, for the first time, this meeting of the South West Pacific Heads of Maritime Forces under the theme of “Our Blue PACIFIC: Partnership and Coordination of Resources – Post COVID”. Your meeting this week will provide a further opportunity to consider matters of common interests and concern to our Blue Pacific region, and to strengthening relations and partnerships already forged amongst the Maritime Forces throughout the Pacific. In particular, it should provide the platform to discuss how COVID-19 has changed how we can better inform effective joint responses to address the challenges we face, as well as events and issues that test our regional security, peace and stability.
You will all be aware of our region’s current geopolitical and geostrategic context. There is intensified interest and jostling for attention in our Blue Pacific region, creating a very crowded and complex geopolitical landscape for all of us, and our regional architecture. It underlines the need for an integrated and comprehensive security architecture, incorporating an expanded concept of security that is reflected in the Boe Declaration on Regional Security.
A stable and resilient security environment provides the platform for achieving our region’s sustainable development aspirations and partnerships are very important in this regard. There is clear need to leverage our strong relations with our global partners to build back better post-COVID-19, and to address the challenges of climate change and regional security.
Samoa shares very close relations and cultural ties with all Pacific Island countries. As our region becomes an increasingly contested space, there is greater reason that our national and regional stability are key in our joint efforts to maintain peace and security, prosperity and wellbeing of all Pacific peoples. We have not been alone in our efforts in this regard and I wish to acknowledge the generous support and generosity of our partners to strengthen the capabilities of our countries, including support for enhanced maritime surveillance needs and enforcement operations to defend against regional maritime security threats, such as illegal fishing and transnational crime.
It is indeed a great pleasure to have this opportunity to recognise the depths of relations and collaborations of all our partners present here today. Your continued support and collaboration in ensuring a secured Blue Pacific is warmly appreciated. I take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to the Royal New Zealand Navy, as the Secretariat for the South West Pacific Heads of Maritime Forces, for its support and assistance in facilitating arrangements for this meeting.
I wish you all the best with the meeting and deliberations, and I look forward to your discussion outcomes.
Enjoy your stay here in our beautiful Samoa, and without any further ado I have the honour to officially open the sixth South West Pacific Heads of Maritime Forces Meeting.
Fa’afetai.
