O’Neill meets with Pacific leaders

National

Pacific Islands leaders met with Apec leaders on Saturday at a side meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in his opening remarks spoke of the Pacific being a wide region with many island countries.
“The Pacific is a large ocean and there are many nations in between,” he said.
“It has been my pleasure to invite the Pacific Islands countries to at least come and share their concerns about the region we live in … and to strive to ensure that we don’t leave many of these nations behind.”
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, on behalf of Pacific countries, spoke of the Blue Pacific Narrative of Pacific Islands’ Forum leaders.
“This is the core driver of collective regional action,” he said.
“Founded on the strength of our collective will, the Blue Pacific Narrative emphasises action as one ocean continent, based on our shared ocean, geography and resources.
“The Blue Pacific Narrative undermines our ownership of our ocean space, Pacific people taking control of our domain, which is critical to managing our ocean resources, biodiversity, ecosystem and data, as well as for fighting the impacts of climate change.”