French Polynesia President, Moetai Brotherson has shared his thoughts ahead of the PALM10 Summit to be held in Japan this week, focusing on Pacific Island collaboration and his country’s tourism industry.
Pacific Islands Forum Leaders will meet with the Government of Japan in Tokyo for the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM10) which starts today.
“First of all, it’s one of the rare occasions we all gather together as Pacific Islanders, and we have this opportunity to share our vision.
“We established the Blue Pacific Ocean vision from the Pacific Islands Forum, and we share it every time we have the opportunity. I think we will do it here at PALM10,” Brotherson said in an interview organised by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
Brotherson emphasised the importance of mutual learning at the summit.
“It’s also the opportunity for us to learn what is being done in Japan currently and what we can learn from each other,” he added.
Brotherson also highlighted specific partnerships French Polynesia is pursuing with Japanese universities.
“From a more specific perspective for my country, this is something I will discuss with the Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when I meet with him. We have here a formidable university, Kindai University, which is very well known in the world for aquaculture.
“Aquaculture is something that we wish to develop in a sustainable way in our country, so I wish to establish a partnership to be able to send our students to Kindai University.
“The second one is to establish the same type of partnership with Kyoto University of Arts and Design so we can also send some of our students here,” he explained.
Brotherson also addressed the current state of French Polynesia’s tourism industry.
“Currently, tourism is our major industry. Japan used to be one of our key markets; we would welcome honeymooners. But the evolution of society has it that nowadays, I’m told Japanese women don’t marry anymore.
“So, we’re running out of honeymooners from Japan. We probably have to shift our targets from honeymooners to elderly people who have time and money. So, we will start to target the second honeymoon before getting to Paradise,” he said.
Brotherson’s pragmatic approach to evolving challenges and opportunities within the Pacific region highlights the importance of international collaboration and market adaptation for French Polynesia’s sustainable development and economic growth.
