The Sasakawa Pacific Island Nations Fund and the Embassy of the Republic of Fiji jointly will organize a seminar that will explore the recent regional trends and the outlook for the Pacific Island nations along with the role that Japan could play.

The Pacific Island nations face common challenges such as broadly stretched territories, small-sized economies, and limited access to the international market. While at the same time, they are an important supply region for marine life resources, including for countries like Japan, which has a fish-eating food culture. The region also provides a sea lane between the Middle East and Northeast Asia and most recently, the region drew attention from international community with the discovery of large reserve of natural resources including rare metals.

Although it has changed their structure over time, the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) has long been a driver for regional cooperation and integration. However in recent years, in addition to traditional partners such as Japan, Australia, the EU and New Zealand, countries like China, Russia, India, Indonesia and Iran have emerged as significant regional players. Under these circumstances, Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) was established in 2013 by the strong initiatives from the Pacific Island nations.

For this seminar, the Interim Secretary General Mr. Feleti Teo of PIDF is being invited. This will be the first visit to Japan by high ranking official from this newly established regional body. The seminar will also be attended by Professor Michael O'Keefe of La Trobe University, Australia and Professor Izumi Kobayashi, President of Japan Pacific Islands Association along with some of the Pacific Island nations' ambassadors to Japan based in Tokyo. This seminar will examine recent dynamic evolution of regional cooperation in the Pacific island countries and to discuss the outlook and implications of recent development. The panel will also feature the role of Japan in the Pacific Island nations and to exchange views on how the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) process should evolve under the new geopolitical situations.

• The Sasakawa Pacific Island Nations Fund: Mr. Seko, Ms. Hasegawa or Ms. Hayashi
  Tel: 03-6229-5450, FAX: 03-6229-5473