The Government of Fiji, in partnership with the Pacific Community (SPC) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), celebrated the official commissioning of the IMO Regional Presence Office (RPO) for the Pacific, marking a historic milestone in strengthening maritime governance, safety, and sustainability across the region.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony in Suva, the Hon. Ro Filipe Tuisawau, Minister for Public Works, Meteorological Services and Transport, warmly welcomed IMO Secretary-General Mr Arsenio Domínguez to Fiji and emphasised the significance of the event for all Pacific Island countries.
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦,” 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑇𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑢 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑.
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠. 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑖𝑗𝑖, 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑃𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚.”
Minister Tuisawau highlighted Fiji’s transport sector reforms, including the development of a National Transport Sector Master Plan, a transport decarbonisation implementation strategy, and reviews of key maritime legislation. He also reaffirmed Fiji’s commitment to international climate goals, noting the synergy between the RPO’s work and regional initiatives such as the Pacific Blue Shipping Partnership.
IMO Secretary-General Mr Domínguez expressed his gratitude to the Government of Fiji and SPC for hosting the office, describing it as both a milestone for the region and a personal honour on his first visit to Fiji.
“𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑃𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 I𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑,” 𝑀𝑟 𝐷𝑜𝑚𝑖́𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑧 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑.
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦, 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐, 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑟, 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒.”
He outlined the IMO’s strategic commitment to decarbonisation, including the adoption of a net-zero framework for international shipping. He stressed the importance of measuring tangible results in capacity building, safety, environmental protection, and inclusivity.
Dr Paula Vivili, SPC Deputy Director-General, reaffirmed SPC’s long-standing partnership with IMO, noting over two decades of joint efforts in training, legislative support, and technical assistance.
“𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝,” 𝐷𝑟 𝑉𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑖 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑.
“𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑃𝑂 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠’ 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼𝑀𝑂 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒, 𝑠𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟.”
Dr Vivili extended an invitation to the IMO Secretary-General to return to the Pacific for the 6th Pacific Regional Energy and Transport Ministers Meeting in Port Moresby in May 2026, where the Pacific One Maritime Framework is expected to be formally endorsed.
The IMO Regional Presence Office in Suva will operate from SPC’s Lotus Building facilities during its initial phase, serving as a hub for technical expertise, coordination, and collaboration between Pacific Island nations, regional organisations, and global maritime governance structures.