Samoa Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said implementing The Blue Pacific will require a ‘whole of Forum’ commitment to the benefits of acting together as one Blue Continent.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the meeting in Apia Saturday, the incoming chair of the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Summit said: “By the sheer fact of our geography, such as trends associated with shifts in the centres of global power, this places the Pacific at the centre of contemporary global geopolitics.”
“Embracing this as a unique opportunity in the history of the region,” he said. “The Blue Pacific provides a new narrative for Pacific regionalism and how the Forum engages with the world. It will require a different way of working together that prioritises The Blue Pacific as the core driver of Forum policy making and collective action.”
Leaders and their delegations from the 18-member countries of the Forum are converging in Apia for the annual leaders’ summit.
The meeting will highlight the oceans, climate change and resource management.
For Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor who completes her first term at the end of the year, The Blue Pacific is a strong expression of Pacific Regionalism.
“It’s about reclaiming that identity that we are ‘one oceanic continent’ – and that as Big Ocean Stewardship States we can do more together than we can alone. It encourages us to see the collective potential of harnessing the energy and opportunity that lie both above and below our Pacific Ocean,” she said.
Taylor is hopeful that leaders and the many stakeholders will explore the myriad possibilities of The Blue Pacific as the week unfolds and she is looking forward to hearing the fruits of those discussions.
The Forum summit will be officially opened on Tuesday afternoon.
Leaders of the eight-member Small Islands States grouping will be meeting on Monday.