Toast Speech by PM Lawrence Wong at the Official Lunch Hosted in Honour of Fiji's PM Sitiveni Rabuka (Apr 2025)

Your Excellency Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

I am delighted to welcome Prime Minister Rabuka back to Singapore.

In your last official visit that was back in 1998, we had the honour of naming an orchid after you, you might remember that. The orchid continues to thrive today. And it is a fitting symbol of the friendship between our two countries and how it has grown and blossomed since we first established ties in 1971.

Although we are in different parts of the world, Fiji and Singapore do share much in common.

We are small island states and gateways to our respective regions, we share a common belief in the importance of international law, multilateralism, and free trade.

And we are also diverse and multicultural societies, with a belief in the values of mutual respect, inclusivity and cooperation for the common good.

And in this increasingly uncertain and turbulent world, as we discussed this morning, it has become more vital than ever for like-minded countries like us to come together – to collaborate for mutual benefit, and to uphold the rules-based international order.

This morning, Prime Minister Rabuka and I reaffirmed our commitment to deepen bilateral cooperation in areas like trade, investment, and connectivity. We also agreed to expand our collaboration in climate resilience and human capital development.

As Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Singapore and Fiji are vulnerable to the effects of climate change and that is why we are both pushing for more global action, including at multilateral forums, like the Forum of Small States (FOSS) and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), to amplify our collective voice.

Singapore will also do our part to support Fiji’s human capital development, something which I have shared with the Prime Minister this morning.

To date, over 1,500 Fiji officials have participated in the Singapore Cooperation Programme.

And through this and other customised courses, we will continue to offer capacity-building programmes in areas like digital transformation and good governance, or other areas that Fiji would like us to focus on.

Our strong bilateral ties also provide a good foundation for Singapore’s broader engagement with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

We are honoured to have become a Dialogue Partner of the PIF in 2022, during Fiji’s Chairmanship.

We also support the PIF’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, which was launched under Fiji’s leadership.

Our Singapore-Pacific Resilience and Knowledge Sharing (SPARKS) package was specially tailored to complement this strategy, and supports the Pacific’s priorities in areas like climate resilience, cybersecurity and international law.

We have also convened the Singapore-Pacific High Level Visit to engage Pacific Ministers on issues of common interest.

I hope to welcome even more Fiji and Pacific officials to Singapore, to further build on this exchange of knowledge and friendship.

Individually, our countries are small. But by working together, both bilaterally and with the rest of the Pacific, we can make an outsized impact in the areas that matter most to us.

I look forward to partnering with Prime Minister Rabuka to bring our partnership to greater heights.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I now offer and propose a toast:

To the good health and success of His Excellency President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu;

To the good health and success of Prime Minister Rabuka;

To the peace and prosperity of Fiji, and to the enduring friendship between our two countries.

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