Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is in New Zealand this week, visiting the country 25 years after he was last officially there as PM in 1998.
New Zealand PM Chris Hipkins in a statement said NZ and Fiji shared a strong focus on Pacific regionalism, including upholding Pacific Islands Forum unity; resuming financial support for the University of South Pacific; and working with other traditional partners, such as Australia, on defence and security matters.
“We’re also cooperating closely to address climate change and its impacts. Both New Zealand and Fiji are not strangers to the devastating impacts of climate change, and I again want to thank Fiji for their support in our response to Cyclone Gabrielle,” said Mr Hipkins said.
“I’m also confident we’ll be discussing our long history of close sporting, cultural, and people-to-people links and the work we are doing alongside the Fiji Government in the spirit of our Duavata Partnership agreement.”
While in New Zealand, PM Rabuka will undertake a series of formal engagements in Auckland and Wellington, including bilateral meetings with PM Hipkins, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Minister for Climate Change James Shaw, and a ceremonial visit to the National War Memorial and Pacific War Memorial Te Reo Hotunui o te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, at Pukeahu.
Complementing this, Mr Rabuka’s programme also includes a number of community events, coordinated by the Fiji High Commission in New Zealand.
The Fiji PM arrived in New Zealand on Monday June 5 and departs Thursday 8 June. He will be hosted as a Guest of Government.
