The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) held discussions today with a visiting team from New Zealand’s Ministry of Defence.
RFMF Commander Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga said initial discussions with the 8-member team from New Zealand focused on Military Assistance Programme (MAP) to boost capacity building for Fijian soldiers.
Brigadier General Tikoitoga said a similar programme was implemented in the past.
“A program that used to run in the past was suspended but now I have resumed with the normal diplomatic engagement with New Zealand. We are looking at areas of common interest for engagement and for the RFMF, it is very important that we re-engage for training purposes, especially, on military trade training or military small technical courses,” Brigadier General Tikoitoga said.
The RFMF Commander highlighted the need for continuous training and upskilling of military personnel to create an enabling professional environment.
“Earlier this year, we sent three young boys for officer cadet training who have now got into that programme. Last week we also sent an officer to attend Defence Staff College in New Zealand.
“Whilst these talks are going on, parallel to this is the continuous engagement of our people going across for training. More importantly, for me in this discussion is to increase the technical professional development of the RFMF soldiers on the training capability gaps that we may have that could be sponsored by New Zealand,” Brigadier General Tikoitoga said.
Brigadier General Tikoitoga will be travelling to New York this Friday, where he will hold further discussions with the Chief of Defence Force for New Zealand.
“This is just an initial discussion on how best we can look at common interest so that we can work together and from then on we will design how best we can help each other prosper in our professional environments,” he added.