This is an edited summary of Taholo Kami’s opening address at the ICDP Dialogue ‘The Blue Economy: Challenges and Opportunities’ held online on 26 September 2024. The full report of the Dialogue is available here.

Mr Kami opened his address with a traditional Pacific welcome to participants. The development of sustainable ocean-based economies will be an ongoing challenge for Pacific Island nations, and progress over the next decade will require ever-stronger partnerships with Australia and New Zealand as well as within the 16-member Pacific Islands Forum.

Small island nations might better be termed ‘Large Ocean States’, given the rich resources of the Pacific, but the economic fortunes of the eight member nations of the tuna partnership – the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) – depend heavily on those fisheries. The ocean economies of Kiribati, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands need to expand beyond tuna, given the threat of climate change forcing the fish into international waters, while non-tuna nations such as Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga should look at developing new income streams in alternative fisheries, locally owned tourism, agriculture and other industries.

Most ministerial meetings in the region are still dominated by the tuna industry, as it currently generates 75% of the tuna partnership’s wealth, but building viable as well as vibrant Large Ocean States will require economic diversification and official representation from local communities as well as tuna industry interests. The sea cucumber – bêche-de-mer – is a billion-dollar market in China, for example, and could be one of several high value fisheries developed in the Pacific over the next 10 years. However, care should be taken to avoid a ‘boom and bust’ cycle in which short-term revenue from unconstrained exploitation is pursued at the expense of long-term management.

Despite the COVID-19 interregnum, tourism remains the region’s other major industry, and Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Palau offer high-performing examples of success. Fiji is now exploring ways to shift the focus from highly commercial, Western-owned cruise lines to ‘small house’ stays which benefit local communities and allow more people to experience the natural beauties of these islands. ‘Hub’-based tourism could see Fiji create 2,000-3,000 new tourist rooms and huts owned by local Fijians in the next few years, with scope for 10,000 more locally owned rooms across the Pacific.

Local, regional, and international shipping and transportation offer another avenue for growth, and Vanuatu and Tuvalu are already encouraging the use of non-fossil fuels for marine transportation, ferries and fishing boats. Most small boats still rely on simple two-stroke engines, and international assistance to adopt more efficient four-stroke and eventually electric motors will help drive this transformation.

Growing geopolitical rivalries in the region put Pacific Island nations in a stronger position to leverage partnerships and attract investments in ways which were not possible five or ten years ago. While securing investment without surrendering sovereignty will be a balancing act, there is an increasing international willingness to fund sustainable development and climate projects to counterbalance the growing influence of China.

While the loss of Pacific labour to higher paying jobs in Australia and New Zealand must also be discussed, such workers often return to benefit their Pacific communities with additional skills, contacts and experience. Australian and New Zealand technology firms could also be encouraged to partner with Pacific retailers to expand their products and services to Pacific markets.