Prime Minister Honourable Sitiveni Rabuka today held a cordial meeting with the non-resident Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Fiji, His Excellency Ard van der Vorst, reaffirming the longstanding diplomatic relations and shared values between the two countries.
Fiji and Netherlands established diplomatic relations in 1972, and have since maintained friendly relations, particularly through our multilateral commitments at the United Nations (UN) in key areas such as peacekeeping, peace and security, sustainable development, and climate change.
During the meeting, PM Rabuka expressed appreciation for the Netherlands’ consistent support through the European Union on sustainable livelihoods, education, governance, innovative agriculture, and livestock, resilient fisheries, climate change, and disaster risk reduction.
He stated that Fiji and the Netherlands share a common vision for collective global action in addressing today’s most pressing challenges. For this, he added that both countries made substantial contributions on peacekeeping missions, which is testament to our shared commitment to global peace and stability.
On regional matters, the Prime Minister briefed the Ambassador on the Ocean of Peace concept, a vision that reflects the Pacific call on global issues such as security, climate change and trade wars, among other important issues.
The Ocean of Peace underscores the importance of shared responsibility for peace and security in the region and will be the Pacific’s contribution to global peace and security.
At the outset, the PM noted the increasing number of Fijians studying in the Netherlands in recent years, describing this positive development as another opportunity of further deepening people-to-people links between the two nations.
Further, PM Rabuka expressed Fiji’s readiness to diversify trade and investment relations with the Netherlands to further enhance trade relations and private sector engagements.
In response, the Dutch Ambassador conveyed his gratitude to the Prime Minister for the opportunity to meet and discuss areas of mutual interest and shared aspirations.
He reaffirmed the Netherlands’ commitment to working closely with Fiji and the Pacific, through the European Union, in key areas such as sustainable livelihoods programs, governance, gender and human rights, enhancing education partnerships and climate action, to mention just a few.
The Ambassador expressed support and more engagements with the Pacific Island countries for better dialogue partnership in areas of mutual interest.
The meeting further highlighted Fiji and the Netherlands’ bilateral and multilateral cooperation for the mutual benefit of both nations.
