30 April 2025 – Prime Minister Mark Brown met with Prime Minister of Fiji, Hon. Sitiveni Rabuka, on the margins of the recent Troika Leaders Meeting held in Nadi, Fiji on 14 April 2025. The bilateral meeting provided an opportunity to review progress in the Cook Islands – Fiji relationship and to reflect on key regional issues under the Forum Leaders agenda.
The two Leaders shared perspectives on the situation in New Caledonia, drawing on their firsthand experience from the Forum Troika Political Mission to Noumea in October 2024. Fiji played a pivotal role in supporting regional efforts to de-escalate tensions and facilitate engagement between local and national actors. The Cook Islands acknowledged Fiji’s enduring contribution to regional conflict resolution and its broader expertise in this area, which continues to inform ongoing regional work led by the Forum Secretariat, including the development of the "Ocean of Peace" Declaration for consideration by Leaders in Honiara later this year. The exchange reaffirmed the constructive and forward-looking nature of Cook Islands – Fiji relations as both countries look to strengthen South-South cooperation and support shared regional ambitions.
On the bilateral front, Prime Minister Brown raised the importance of establishing a structured process to support implementation of the Cook Islands – Fiji Development Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (DCA), signed in Rarotonga in the margins of the Leaders Forum in November 2023. This included proposing an annual high-level dialogue between Leaders and Foreign Ministers, alongside the establishment of a senior official’s mechanism to coordinate progress and identify sectoral deliverables. The DCA outlines 15 agreed areas of cooperation between the two countries, and the Cook Islands continues to give priority to advancing initiatives in education, workforce development, trade, and connectivity.
The Leaders also discussed the potential to strengthen economic cooperation through improved regional connectivity to support trade flows, tourism, and supply chain reliability. Prime Minister Brown extended an invitation to Prime Minister Rabuka to attend the Cook Islands 60th Anniversary of Self-Government celebrations in August 2025, noting the milestone as a timely opportunity to showcase Pacific partnerships in action.
Prime Minister Brown was supported in the bilateral meeting by the Cook Islands Chargé d’Affaires to Fiji, Ms Antonina Browne, and the Director of the Pacific Regional Division, Ms Teuru Tiraa-Passfield. The Cook Islands High Commission in Suva continues to work closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration to progress implementation of the DCA and advance bilateral priorities in coordination with agencies and stakeholders across both countries. “The coming months will be important in advancing practical steps under the DCA, including coordinating on priority actions both sides can deliver on,” said Chargé d’Affaires Antonina Browne, reflecting on her recent engagement with Fiji’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We’re looking forward to working closely with our counterparts to move our aspirations forward.”
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