Bilateral with The Honourable Manoa Seru Kamikamica, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications of the Republic of Fiji

Rome - FAO Director-General, Dr QU Dongyu, met today with The Honourable Manoa Seru Kamikamica, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Cooperatives, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Communications of the Republic of Fiji, on the sidelines of the 2025 World Food Forum and FAO’s 80th Anniversary celebrations at FAO headquarters.

The Director-General warmly welcomed the delegation and congratulated Fiji on its central and leading role in the Pacific Islands. He commended Fiji’s proactive approach to strengthening its agrifood system and reaffirmed FAO’s full support for the needed transformation, including investment in tropical fruit production, aquaculture, and soil conservation.

The Deputy Prime Minister conveyed appreciation for FAO’s longstanding support and congratulated the Organization on its 80th anniversary. He highlighted the importance of the Hand-in-Hand Initiative as a platform that Fiji had already benefited from and expressed the country’s readiness to further expand its participation. He shared that Fiji is developing a new agriculture investment plan, emphasizing private sector engagement, commercialization of agriculture, aquaculture development — particularly shrimp farming — and the empowerment of youth and women in agribusiness.

The Director-General reiterated FAO’s strong focus on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including through the established Office of SIDS, LDCs and LLDCs, and looked forward to further strengthening collaboration with Fiji and all the Pacific SIDS to ensure the Four Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life – leaving no one behind.