Reverend Siaosi Salesulu
Afioga i le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II ma lau
Masiofo
Member of the Council of Deputies
Cabinet Ministers
Speaker of the House
Leader of the Opposition
Members of Parliament
His Excellency Mr Senta Keisuke, Ambassador of Japan to Samoa
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Talofa and a warm good evening to you all,

It is indeed a pleasure for me to join you all at the reception this evening
to commemorate and celebrate the 65th birthday of His Majesty Naruhito, the
Emperor of Japan. On behalf of the Government and the People of Samoa,
please allow me to convey through Your Excellency Ambassador Senta our best
wishes for the good health and wealth of His Majesty Naruhito.

Excellency, last year marked the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic
relations, such milestone only reinforces the mutual and friendly bilateral
relations that remains steadfast after time despite the unpredictability of the
global landscape and events.

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In commemoration of our 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Samoa
hosted in January last year a high level parliamentarian delegation visit led by
Honourable Endo Toshiaki a senior Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
Parliamentarian. In February of this year, we had the privilege of hosting another
high level visit from Japan’s Foreign Minister, Kamikawa Yoko. The visit ended
on a high note with the Signing of the Exchange of Notes for the National
University of Samoa Faculty of Health Science Project for the improvement of its
facilities and provision of equipment and related materials to support the delivery
of its medical programmes.
Development cooperation forms an integral important part of our bilateral
relations that focuses on key priority areas including education, health,
environment, climate change, critical infrastructure and sustainable economic
growth. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been making every effort to
build back better and the collective response of our development partners
including Japan has been a critical pillar in strengthening our efforts. Immense
contributions have been poured in by our development partners into our national
projects to ensure that we meet our development goals.
This year also marks the 52nd anniversary since the establishment of JICA
volunteer programme in Samoa, another important aspect in our relationship.
The past five decades have witnessed great development of our bilateral
relations and the mutual support in priority areas of Samoa as outlined in our
Pathway for the Development of Samoa. The deployment of JICA volunteers to
critical areas such as education, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and
private sector development, has made an immense impact. JICA’s 52 years can
be best described through the contribution of its volunteer programme and its
notable Grassroots for Human Security Programme which has greatly benefited
our local communities and NGOs.

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Similarly, Samoa continues to benefit from Japan’s annual capacity training
programmes in various fields through its short exchange programs and
scholarship opportunities such as the SDG’s Global Leaders Program
administered by JICA and the MEXT Scholarship Program by the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology .
We also acknowledge with appreciation the active engagement by the
Government of Japan in the Pacific region through the Pacific Islands Leaders
Meeting (PALM) in which various development cooperation initiatives are
delivered bilaterally. This platform provides an excellent opportunity to further
strengthen “kizuna” bond and relations built on trust, shared values and
principles between Japan and the Pacific Island countries attaching great
importance to regional solidarity in addressing issues of critical concern to our
Blue Pacific. Samoa looks forward to the PALM 10 in July this year in Tokyo, to
accelerate action-oriented discussions with the Government of Japan to realize
the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
Excellency, Samoa remains committed in sustaining the good relations
between our two countries and we look forward to strengthening our relations
and cooperation in the regional and multilateral fora particularly in addressing
the sustainable development agenda on matters of mutual interest to our two
countries.
Ladies and gentlemen – please join me in proposing a toast for the
celebrations tonight: “I would like to propose a toast for the good health
of the Emperor of Japan His Majesty Naruhito and the continued peace
and prosperity of the Japanese people, and the lasting friendship
between Samoa and Japan”.
Manuia and God Bless