His Excellency Mr. KAWAKAMI Fumihiro, Ambassador of Japan to Fiji,
His Excellency Dr. TANAKA Akihiko, JICA President,
Honourable Ministers, Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ohayo-gozaimas, Bula Vinaka and Good Evening to you all.
Please allow me to extend my warmest welcome to you, Excellency. Dr. TANAKA to Fiji. My hearty congratulations as well on your re-appointment.
Excellency, as you know, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is a valuable partner in Fiji’s Sustainable Development. And your visit Excellency, speaks volumes of JICA’s commitment to Fiji and the Pacific –more importantly – it’s a testament of the over three-decade long friendship we share.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Excellencies,
The Japan Foreign Minister’s visit to Fiji in May this year, significantly elevated our engagement and further solidified our high level commitment. It gives me great pleasure to say that a few days after we celebrated Fiji’s fifty-second year of independence, we are glad to have, H.E. Dr. TANAKA, who heads one of the closest development partners of Fiji, amongst us.
I take this opportunity to convey on behalf of the Government and people of Fiji, my sincere appreciation to H.E. Dr. TANAKA, JICA and the Government of Japan for all the support provided to Fiji.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Excellencies,
The Government of Japan’s Loan, through JICA, worth approximately USD200 million (or FJD468 million) disbursed in 2021 and 2022, helped us effectively implement our COVID-19 Response. This support combined with the resilience of our people, pivoted Fiji to be able to safely open international borders.
Our visitor numbers from January to September this year show that we have recovered over 60 percent of visitors from the same period pre-COVID. These numbers translate to thousands of jobs being restored. So the impacts are extremely meaningful.
In the same period, the Japanese Government and JICA disbursed Disaster Stand-by Loan to Fiji worth USD50 million (FJD117 million) for tropical cyclone and natural disaster recovery and reconstruction. Excellencies, I’m sure you know how near and dear climate resilience is to us and how much we appreciate this.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Excellencies,
Through partnership with the Japanese Government and regional countries, we are able to continue dialogue through the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM), to expedite climate action and enhance disaster risk reduction.
We have pursued further our cooperation through the 2050 strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, launched by Honourable Prime Minister Bainimarama, in the margins of the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, last month.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Excellencies,
We are also very pleased to learn that Japan can support this Strategy through the ‘Partners in the Blue Pacific’ Framework.
Excellencies, multilaterally, Fiji this year became a member to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) – joining 13 other major economies including Japan. Most recently, we joined the G20 as a non-member.
Having such partnerships allow us the opportunity to provide more to Fijian businesses to become climate resilient and create new opportunities. In tangent, the Fijian Government will continue to create an enabling business environment for ease of doing business – allowing more investment hinged on modernised reforms.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Excellencies,
Not only are we making it easy for Japanese investors to do business in Fiji, but to holiday here.
While we are tracking well, the recent announcement of ‘New Mitigated Border Measures’ by the Government of Japan will surely aid in a full recovery by 2024. Pre-COVID, the Japanese market was a growing visitor market for Fiji. That was made possible through strong collaboration.
Excellency, as has our friendship and people-to-people ties serve us well in some of our greatest times, I am certain that with even stronger collaboration now, we can deepen partnership in tourism, trade and economic development.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Excellencies,
Japan and Fiji share a long-standing relationship, and JICA has provided Fiji technical assistance in the area of disaster resilience and capacity building to name a few.
We value our friendship and look forward to exploring areas of shared interests in the development of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises, clean energy, enhanced investment opportunities and future-proofing our economies.
Coming back to today’s event, I thank H.E. Dr. TANAKA for his inspiring words, his exemplary leadership of JICA and giving priority to Fiji’s development needs.
I wish you a safe trip on the return leg of this visit. I hope that your visit contributes meaningfully to JICA’s partnership with Fiji as well as to further strengthening friendship between the Governments and peoples of Japan and Fiji.
Vinaka Vakalevu and Thank You.