FIJI IS ONCE AGAIN OPEN FOR HAPPINESS – PM BAINIMARAMA- (08-12-2021)

Dubai - "In Fiji, there is no great secret to happiness. It isn't something we study, buy, or even look for. In our islands, happiness finds you."

These were the sentiments shared by Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama whilst delivering his speech at the Fiji National Day at the Dubai Expo.

While addressing World Expo attendees, Prime Minister Bainimarama shared some good news with the audience stating that Fiji is once again "Open for Happiness" to the world.

The Prime Minister in his address also shared that in Fiji, there is no great secret to happiness. It isn't something Fijians study, buy, or even look for. In Fiji, the Prime Minister said is where happiness finds everyone.

Emphasizing the importance of working in unity, PM Bainimarama said humanity has faced one of its greatest tests before joining hands for one of its grandest celebrations of co-operation across borders, oceans and hemispheres - the Dubai Expo 2020.

"The pandemic has driven home the ethos of this Expo - that nations are stronger together. Humanity is at its best when we share the best of who we are with each other."

"It's taken longer than we expected to meet here. But we are here because we have earned this opportunity to connect minds and create the future; the future we want and the future that our children deserve," he said.

Using the Expo platform to raise awareness on the threats of climate change, the Prime Minister said Fiji has seen the worst of climate change and is taking bold measures to protect itself and urged countries to reduce the dangerous emissions that are warming the world, worsening storms, lengthening droughts, changing weather patterns and causing the seas to rise.

"Within Fiji's pavilion you'll see stark images of such climate devastation. But that's not all, because that alone is not our story. There are images of resilience and there are examples of our courageous climate leadership."

"For in Fiji, we are turning the front line of the climate crisis into the cutting edge of sustainable innovation, investment and trade. We are transforming our vulnerability into a motivation to make bigger investments, make bigger leaps in technology, and seize bigger gains in wellbeing for our citizens," he added.

Prime Minister Bainimarama concluded his address by adding that in Fiji, and in the UAE, their stories are part of a larger whole, a global, generational story of progress. That progress can come encased in steel, glass and concrete, as displayed at the Expo venue and across Dubai's iconic skyline.

"But it comes in other forms as well, in an eco-seawall that protects a coastal community, in a farm that produce climate-resilient crops, and in a patch of ocean that is protected from overfishing."

"In all its forms, there is one constant of human progress, and that is that we cannot stop it. But we can direct it. As Leaders it is our duty to guide our people onto the more sustainable path; the path that Fijians are already walking towards a bluer, greener and better future."