BY BEN BILUA
Gizo
PRIME Minister Matthew Cooper Wale says geopolitics is no secret in the Pacific region, stressing that Pacific Islands Forum leaders must take ownership of the region’s future amid growing international competition for influence.
Speaking in Suva, Fiji, this week during his visit for the Pacific Islands Forum Troika meeting, Wale said the Pacific is witnessing a rapid expansion of partnerships and strategic arrangements as global powers compete for influence at national, regional and international levels.
He said the increasingly complex geopolitical environment presents new challenges that could divert Forum members from their shared goals and priorities.
“Over the years, our Forum has grown in influence and stature. With that has come greater international interest in our region, our priorities and our collective voice.
“We welcome that interest and we value our partnerships. But we must always remind ourselves that our development agenda must remain one that is conceived, driven and owned by the Pacific,” Wale said.
He said development partners should support and complement Pacific ambitions rather than define or shape them.
Wale said Forum leaders have a responsibility to ensure the Pacific Islands Forum remains the region’s foremost political institution.
“As Leaders, we have a responsibility to ensure that the Pacific Islands Forum remains first and foremost the political home of our region,” he said.
Wale said leaders should continue exploring ways to keep the annual Forum Leaders Meeting firmly focused on member priorities while strengthening engagement with development partners through more strategic and purposeful dialogue.
He said such an approach would preserve the Forum’s greatest strength—a platform where Pacific leaders speak first and with one voice on issues affecting the region.
“The future of our region will not be determined by the interests of others. It will be determined by the choices we make together as one Blue Pacific family,” Wale said.
He said the Pacific is living in an era of heightened geopolitical competition similar to the reality climate change.
“The fact that we are in a geopolitically contested time is no secret. Just like climate change—it is our current reality in the Pacific region,” Wale said.
He said the changing strategic environment reinforces the importance of the Forum Family by providing Pacific leaders with dedicated space to discuss common concerns, aspirations and regional priorities.
Wale said the Forum Troika leaders’ meeting reaffirmed that the region’s future ultimately rests in the hands of Pacific people themselves.
“Our success as a region, and as a Blue Pacific Continent spread out in our vast Ocean of Peace, lies not in the hands of others but our very own—unless we do not take ownership of our own destiny and hand it over to others, willingly or otherwise, to shape,” he said.
Wale said the challenges make regional ownership and unity more important than ever.
“It is precisely in times like these that regional ownership matters most,” he said.
Photo credit: PINA (Pacific Islands News Association)
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