HIS EXCELLENCY RATU EPELI NAILATIKAU
CF, LVO, OBE (Mil), KStJ, CSM, MSD
President of the Republic of Fiji
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ADDRESS AT STATE DINNER IN PALAU
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Koror Palau
Tuesday 18th March 2014
7.00pm

Your Excellency the President of Palau,
Thomas Remengesau Junior, and Madam First Lady,
Honourable Ministers,
Your Excellencies the Ambassadors,
The Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen

Ni bula vinaka, good evening and ungil Kebesengei

I bring you the warmest greetings of the Fijian people and the Fijian government.

It is indeed a great honour for me to be making this first official visit to Palau. And it is an even greater pleasure to be among friends – new friends in many ways but with whom we already have so much in common.

As nations, we are separated by a vast expanse of ocean and the transport links between us are indirect and expensive.

Yet we share that same ocean and also share a passionate belief in the need to protect and preserve the Pacific and its resources not only for ourselves but for future generations.

The Pacific is both our home and a principal source of food and we must
treat it accordingly. There is much that we can do together - both bilaterally and in global forums – to ensure that our use of the seas around us is responsible and sustainable.

And where possible, we must do what we can to reverse the negative impacts of human activity, such as over-fishing and damage to our reefs.

Both our nations look forward to the third international conference of Small Island Developing States in Samoa in September, where we in the Pacific will discuss our various challenges with those from other Small Islands Developing States around the world.

Hilary Clinton, a former American Secretary of State, once made the strategic observation that “the Pacific is big enough for all of us”.

But it is clearly not big enough for us to continue to reap its bounty while too many Pacific Islanders, and too many outsiders, abuse it. As islanders, we must stop using our ocean as a rubbish dump.
And we should all take personal responsibility to keep it clean.

As someone who takes a keen interest in conservation issues – I am especially keen to learn more about Palau’s efforts to provide a sanctuary for sharks in the waters of your economic zone.

And of course, to see for myself something more of the renowned natural beauty of these islands, which are rightly attracting increasing numbers of international visitors.

Above all, I come with a message from the Fijian government and the Fijian people. Fiji seeks to build a closer relationship with the government and people of Palau, and in time, by eventually formalizing our ties which would encourage more people to people contacts between our nations.

For Fijians and Palauans to get to know each other better and to discuss possible areas of cooperation and trade, including partnerships in tourism, agriculture and fisheries.

We are especially keen for Palau to join the new Pacific grouping that Fiji is forging with its neighbours – the Pacific Islands Development Forum, or PIDF, which had its inaugural meeting in Fiji last August.

You are already a member of the Pacific Islands Forum and indeed you will host the next gathering of forum leaders here in Palau at the end of July.

Where the PIDF differs from the Forum is that its reach goes beyond government to encompass the views of a much broader cross section of Pacific society.

It has strengthened the voice of the grassroots in our member countries by including representatives of civil society and business. And we look forward to that chorus being joined by Palauans.

The membership of the PIDF is confined to Pacific Island nations, whereas the Forum includes some of our larger regional neighbours.

The PIDF is about forging a truly independent Pacific voice that fully articulates the concerns of all our people.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, aside from seeking a closer engagement, I have also come to Palau to explain to you our own attempts at nation building.

To explain the huge strides that we have made and are making in Fiji to produce a nation that is fairer, more just and provides better opportunities for every Fijian.

Before the end of September, we will hold the first genuinely democratic election in our history, of equal votes and of equal value instead of the weighted formula used in the past based on race and province.

We have a new constitution that establishes a common and equal citizenry, that guarantees a range of civil and political rights and that provides ordinary Fijians with an unprecedented array of social and economic rights, such as the right to education, housing, and clean water.

This year, we have achieved a landmark transforming breakthrough in being able to provide our young people with free primary and secondary school education – plus a tertiary loans scheme - so that poverty is no longer a barrier to attaining any level of education.

Our national infrastructure - such as our roads and ports - is also being upgraded to encourage investment and to create the jobs on which the ultimate fortunes of every Fijian depends.

And all over Fiji, rural and maritime communities are gradually and finally receiving basic services such as electricity and water that have been continually promised over the years but that were never delivered.

This social, economic and political revolution – coupled with the holding of elections - will soon deliver a genuine democracy in Fiji that meets the highest international standards. We are determined that our General
Election before the end of September, will be free and fair and express the genuine will of the people.

Fiji is proud to have forged an independent foreign policy based on the fundamental premise of being friends to all and enemies to none.

To illustrate this, we have five hundred and eight Republic of Fiji Military Forces personnel serving in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan heights, Syria; one hundred and ninety five in the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq; and fifteen in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

In addition there are twenty in the United Nations Mission in Darfur, Sudan; twenty three in the United Nations Mission in Liberia;

Three hundred and twenty eight in the Multi-National Force and Observers in Sinai, Egypt; and two in RAMSI, Solomon Islands.

All these Fijians deployed in those countries are protecting vulnerable ordinary people.

We are also sending our civilian volunteers, including teachers and Health workers, into our Pacific neighbours to boost their capacity and to improve the lives of their people. The Fiji Volunteer Services Scheme is already an outstanding success and we have plans to considerably boost this program in the coming months and years and to expand the capacity building to other professional fields.

I also want to repeat the message that I have been carrying on my visits
throughout the region: that we must all do more to take charge of our own affairs. We need a fundamental change in our psyche – in our mindset - and the way we see the world. We need to take ownership of our problems, to acknowledge our own roles and responsibilities instead of seeing them as someone else’s.
When someone once asked the great Singaporean statesman Lee Kuan Yew: Quote: “what are you going to do for me?” he replied: “what are you going to do for yourself?” This carries a very important message for us all.

We need to stop looking for donors and start looking for development partners. And we need to stop asking those partners, “what are you doing for us?” But “what can you do to help us to help ourselves?”

We need to abandon our tendency to seek handouts.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen in conclusion let me thank you all for the wonderful warm hospitality you have shown me and my delegation.

I look forward very much to seeing more of Palau - if not now at some time in the future - of meeting more of your people and of further strengthening the ties of friendship between our countries.

Vinaka vakalevu and sulang