Suva, Fiji, 16 September 2023 - Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs and Immigration Minister the Honourable Mark Brown met with New Zealand Foreign Minister the Honourable Nanaia Mahuta on Thursday afternoon at the Cook Islands High Commission in Suva, ahead of the Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting which Prime Minister Brown chaired at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat yesterday.
Both Prime Minister Brown and Foreign Minister Mahuta were at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders Summit in Jakarta last week, where Prime Minister Brown on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), delivered remarks to the East Asia Summit and attended the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the PIF and ASEAN committing to strengthen co-operation in a range of areas.
On the bilateral front, the two discussed the value derived from the Infrastructure Trust Fund jointly developed to support infrastructure investment in the Cook Islands and the Cook Islands aspirations for International Monetary Fund membership.
Prime Minister Brown and Foreign Minister Mahuta also discussed several regional issues including the value in clarifying and instituting Forum governance processes including the Forum Troika mechanism, preparations for the Cook Islands hosting of the 52nd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (PIFLM52), finalisation of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Implementation Plan, Forum Dialogue Partner and Engagement Mechanisms, Regional Security issues and the Cook Islands proposal for Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity (PPfP).
"Amongst the nine initiatives the Cook Islands is proposing as PPfP, Foreign Minister Mahuta noted New Zealand had committed funding support towards preparatory work relating to the Pacific Resilience Facility and New Zealand supported the operationalisation of the Consultative Committee provided by the Rarotonga Treaty to ensure a nuclear-free Pacific," said Prime Minister Brown.
Both agreed there was value in bringing together existing partners in a coordinated manner to mobilise additional resources to assist Pacific Islands Countries and Territories to enhance national capabilities to protect against cyber-attacks.