Inaugural Remarks at First Session of the ACP Summit
Denarau, Thursday, 18th July, 2002, 10.00 a.m.

Your Excellency Madame President,
Distinguished Heads of State and Government,
Heads of Delegations,
Representatives of the European Union
and individual non-ACP States
Secretary General of the ACP,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters in all ACP States:

Yesterday our President, His Excellency Ratu Josefa Iloilo, welcomed delegates to this Conference. Today, I begin with a message from our retired President, the Rt. Hon. Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, who was closely involved with the founding of the ACP partnership.

This is what he has to say to us, and I quote:

"I had the pleasure of attending the first summit of ACP Leaders in Libreville. As a pioneer of the ACP, I was very impressed because for the highest leaders in all ACP countries to come together like that, marked a major development for unity.

We have come a long way from the tentative steps we took some 27 years ago. The Lome Convention has brought enormous benefits to all our countries in helping to improve the lives of our peoples. I rejoice that the meeting in Fiji is to prepare for a new stage in our partnership with the European Union. Those of us from an earlier generation have played our part. We did our best. I pay homage to my colleagues who have passed on. Those of us, who remain, watch with special interest as the torch of leadership goes into new hands. I add my own welcome to those of the Government and people of Fiji. My prayers are with you. I wish the meeting every success." unquote.

I would like to move on without further delay to the next item on the agenda - and that is soccer! The excitement of the World Cup has now passed, but I nonetheless offer, on behalf of delegates, belated congratulations to Senegal for taking African soccer into a new league in the Cup games!

Here in the Pacific, we were all cheering you on; for after all, you were representing our ACP! We felt a sense of oneness with you, which captured the meaning of what it is to belong to the ACP. Seeing that the Fiji team just got an 8-nil thrashing from Australia, perhaps we could turn to our ACP soccer stars for a bit of advice on how to strengthen defence! I give a warning to South Africa though; we’re going to beat you in Sevens Rugby at the Commonwealth Games!

Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday you heard the beating and rhythm of the Lali. This morning, I ask you to draw on your imaginary forces and listen! Can you hear the drums? Do you hear the drumbeat from the mountains and plains of Africa, from the shining sands of the Caribbean, and our islands and atolls of the Pacific? It is sending out a message to the world. Seventy-eight nations are saying:

We are concerned for planet Earth. We see and experience its troubles and its turmoil. It is a time of crisis, of great tension and threats, of suffering and of fear. Our people carry a large part of the earth's burdens. We have come together in Fiji for their sake and for the sake of the world. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder to fashion a new order of economic and social justice. We seek an end to war, to poverty and disease. We want to make it possible for the distressed millions to have decent jobs, better shelter, enough food and education for themselves and their children. We would like the riches of the world to be spread with fairness, so that the dangerous gulf between the North and South is removed and the family of humankind becomes closer. We wish to protect this Earth and its natural resources from wanton depredation and destruction, threatening the very environment, which supports us.

The drumbeat is insistent and it will not be silenced. It has called us to this Third Summit of the ACP. In the next two days, we must concentrate our minds on some of the most complex issues of our times and make decisions, which alter history.

I must tell you that we in the Pacific are grateful to be hosting this gathering. We are the smallest of our group in population. Indeed, some of our Pacific States are among the smallest in the world. Like so many of the ACP countries, we do not have monetary wealth. We struggle to develop our economies and to come to grips with wrenching, inexorable change. We must reconcile our traditions and culture with the onrush of modern systems of trade, government and mass materialism.

There is something else very important to us. Although our countries are small and economically weak, we bring to you something unique - the great Ocean of which we are part. The Pacific covers a fifth of the planet's surface. It drew our forebears onward thousands of years ago, on mighty voyages of exploration and migration, which have had no parallel. They sailed in their canoes to where the sea met the sky and then kept going, for the horizons were endless. Did they come from Africa or Asia?

We do not know, for no one has yet sifted legend from fact. But whoever their ancestors were, these seafarers brought with them fortitude, imagination, courage and many skills.

They made landfall on lonely slivers and dots of rock and earth and vegetation, which broke the surface of the sea. There they settled and made societies. But how could they possibly survive in this boundless stretch of water, isolated and cut off from the rest of humanity?

We did make it, ladies and gentlemen. We evolved ways of life in our aquatic world, which endured. The Pacific separated us, but kept us together. It became the common link, formed by the tides, the currents, marine life, the stars and the wind. There was travel and trade between the islands. We became part of the Ocean. It was part of us.

This Pacific defined us, shaped our cultures, created our myths and traditions, gave us bodily sustenance, made us what we are. It is the same today.

Though the distances between us are long, we of the Pacific are close neighbours and friends. We have many shared traits and common features. There is a spirit among us, which makes us distinct. It is the spirit of the islands. You will have experienced it already.

This relationship with the Ocean will make it easy for you to understand why we are so adamantly opposed to any actions, which expose it to threats of pollution, hazardous waste and the destructive effects of nuclear, and missile tests. Rising sea levels from global warming are also a grave danger to the Pacific Islands, especially the low-lying atolls. It is quite conceivable that environmental refugees from Oceania will in future be seeking sanctuary elsewhere. As I speak, a ship carrying plutonium is heading for our waters, having traversed other parts of the region. We will be asking you to join with us in expressing our outrage and opposition to those who are so willing to put the Pacific and our peoples at risk.

Ladies and gentlemen, at this Conference we are again reaffirming our friendship for all the other countries in our ACP Group, in far places. Fiji's President spoke of the importance of solidarity among the ACP States. Allow me to reinforce that. We are at a turning point in history. Fresh alignments are taking place in international affairs. The political maps are being redrawn and the course is set for change. This is particularly so in trade, investment and aid.

It is our task to ensure that change improves life for both rural and urban dwellers alike in the African Continent. We must ensure it brings more prosperity for the ordinary people of the Caribbean, and for the islanders of the Pacific. That is why we are here.

The ACP is made up of countries from the developing world, whose economies have yet to become strong. This is our weakness. Our strength comes from unity, from the combined vision of 78 nations, speaking with one voice. It is hard to ignore a voice like that.

We must remind ourselves always that international affairs are not necessarily warm and cosy. The richer and more powerful nations will act decisively to protect their own interests, if they have to. We cannot always rely on an accommodating attitude, which takes account of our problems. The response by the US to the special ACP Protocol on bananas is an example of this. America had no hesitation in acting against our ACP banana producers when US companies protested about the Protocol.

Free trade, we are told, means an evening-out of the market. All nations will trade from the same basis of equality and fairness. We know that is not true. We accept free trade as the ideal, but there is no level playing field for the ACP. The open market is more like a steep and slippery slope for the poorer States. This is why we must move carefully into an integrated system of world trade. It is a matter of saving some of our industries from decimation and protecting employment.

Soon we will be entering into negotiations with our partners in the European Union for Economic Partnership Agreements. Let us get our thinking right on these negotiations and guard against any moves to erode our position and purpose through the introduction of arrangements, which fragment us. We must make sure that no current assistance is diluted and that, on the contrary, the new agreements act as a platform for fresh support in aid, trade, investment and general co-operation.

By any measure, the EU-ACP association is remarkably successful. It is one of the most effective international aid and trade groupings ever established. I pay tribute now to all the nations and institutions - from both sides of the North-South divide - which have done so much to make it work. There can be no question that it has made a difference for the better in the lives of millions of our citizens. It certainly has in the Pacific.

In Fiji, aid flowing from the EU-ACP partnerships has been of wide assistance to us. When you have an opportunity to tour some of the countryside around here, you will see the cane farms, and the homes of the farmers and their families. Those farms would not be there providing a livelihood for many thousands of people, without the willing assistance of the EU. Our sugar industry in Fiji is presently going through a period of stress and decline. But we are determined to advance this year on long-overdue restructure and reform. Extension of favourable access to the European market for Fiji's sugar exports is absolutely critical in our plans for maintaining and building our economy. About 200,000 people are dependent on this industry both directly and indirectly, and given its special nature in that the majority of cane farms are by Indian tenants on Fijian-owned land, its continuing viability is vitally important both for multi-racial harmony and political stability in Fiji.

We contrast Australia's attitude to ACP preferential trade benefits with that of the US. As a major exporter of sugar, Australia could have protested, if it wished, to the World Trade Organisation about the preferential sugar access to the EU for the ACP. But it has not done so because, as an affluent State, it understands and is sympathetic to the development needs of the ACP Group. We thank Australia and our other neighbour, New Zealand, for their readiness, through their SPARTECA trade agreement with us, to provide the same kind of non-reciprocal trade access we are receiving from the European Union.

When we look to America we observe the most powerful country on earth at the very peak of its influence. With this, of course, goes enormous responsibility. We sympathise with the American Government and people over the horror and carnage wrought on September eleventh last year and the continuing danger to them from the most extreme and ruthless forms of terrorism.

I would like to gently remind America that the ACP has earned its credentials as a successful international power bloc. Will America, then, consider forming the same kind of bonds with our 78 countries that we have with Europe? This would also become another link for international stability, co-operation and peace.

Here, in our Asia-Pacific region, China is emerging strongly as an economic power. Speaking for the South Pacific, I can express appreciation for its growing assistance in development aid. Would China, too, consider an alliance with the ACP to build international solidarity?

We congratulate those who have launched a new plan among African countries for a partnership in the development of that continent. We understand why this is necessary and wish all those participating well in this initiative to transform the lives of their citizens.

As our ACP group gathers strength and consolidates, the time is right for us to move even closer together by forming an ACP union. I am not suggesting here a union in the sense of the EU. It would, rather, reflect our determination to preserve togetherness and mutuality of purpose. We would be underscoring the absolute necessity for us to act in concert and derive maximum benefits from trade, aid and investment, and protection of our environments.

Before we finish this Summit on Friday, we should also have in place our strategies for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa in early September. I would like to think that we can stand together with the EU in this meeting and in similar international gatherings, while still advocating specific positions of concern to the ACP.

We must additionally fashion a unified approach for the fifth WTO Trade Ministers Conference in Mexico next year.

I would like to here extend our congratulations to the Dominican Republic and His Excellency President Hipolito Mejia, for providing leadership for the ACP since our last Summit. The ACP family of nations is extremely grateful to President Mejia for his untiring devotion to our cause.

I want to place on record our formal thanks to the European Union. We are honoured to have here the co-President of the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Ms Glenys Kinnock, and the Commissioner for Trade, Mr Pascal Lamy. Their attendance is further clear evidence of the EU's commitment to an extraordinary partnership between developed and developing countries.

We express our gratitude to the ACP Leaders for placing their trust and confidence in Fiji and the Pacific members at this critical juncture. We give you an undertaking that we will devote all our abilities to serving you well and to providing the right leadership for the Presidency of the ACP Leaders' Summit.

Before I conclude, I would like to extend a special welcome to the world’s newest sovereign independent State, East Timor, and its distinguished President, His Excellency President Xanana Gusmao. The people of East Timor feel a strong sense of common identity with Pacific nations, and through that, with the ACP. This is a country born out of the struggle for freedom and their own separate identity. I very much hope that their case will be heard with understanding and sympathy.

Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters of the ACP, in some of our Pacific cultures, the frigate bird has traditional and almost mystical significance.

There is a song of great beauty from Kiribati, which ends with these words:

`Very low on earth are the frigate birds hatched,
Yet they soar as high as the sun.'

We cannot soar to the sun, but we can move forward with our people toward the far horizon, and beyond. This is a journey we must make together, travelling onward, ever onward. Our aim is a new world where poverty is defeated, peace reigns and new hope blooms.

May God’s blessings be with you all.