BY NED GAGAHE
The Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea have made significant progress towards bringing their long-standing maritime boundary treaty into force following a two-day bilateral technical and legal meeting in Honiara.
The meeting brought together legal and technical officials from both countries to review the 1989 Treaty between the Independent State of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands concerning sovereignty, maritime boundaries, the seabed and related cooperation, a statement from The Pacific Community said.
The discussions focused on technical and legal issues relating to the southern endpoint of the maritime boundary in the Coral Sea, with support from the Pacific Community (SPC), which provided expert presentations on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and maritime boundary delimitation in the Pacific.
A key outcome of the meeting was an agreement by both governments to progress the technical and legal work needed to finalise the treaty boundary and complete the process required to bring the agreement into force.
Acting Assistant Secretary for the Ocean and Climate Change Desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Brian Akwasia, described the meeting as an important milestone.
“This meeting marks an important step towards bringing the maritime boundary Treaty between the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea into force.
“We thank Papua New Guinea for its constructive engagement and acknowledge SPC and its consortium of partners for their invaluable technical and legal support in helping both countries advance this work as prioritised by our governments,” Mr Akwasia said.
Papua New Guinea’s Acting Director of the National Oceans Office under the Department of Justice and Attorney General, Bonaventure Hasola, also welcomed the outcome.
“Papua New Guinea is pleased with the progress achieved during this meeting and the agreement reached with the Solomon Islands to advance the processes required to bring our maritime boundary Treaty into force.
“We thank the Government of the Solomon Islands for its warm hospitality and acknowledge SPC and its consortium of partners for their continued support in advancing this critical work,” Mr Hasola said.
The meeting also agreed to consider measures that will reinforce the permanence and stability of the maritime boundary in line with the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ 2021 Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones in the Face of Climate Change-Related Sea-Level Rise.
Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to finalise the treaty text and complete the necessary domestic and bilateral processes ahead of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Palau in September 2026.
The bilateral meeting was supported through the Pacific Maritime Boundaries Programme, coordinated by SPC with funding from the Governments of Australia, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
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