REMARKS OF THE HONORABLE KUNIWO NAKAMURA PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU AND CHAIRMAN OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC FORUM

Good afternoon. It is a pleasure to be here and to witness your great interest in our meetings today, as reflected by the presence of so many of leaders from all sectors of Japan.
   On behalf of all the members of the South Pacific Forum let me first express the Forum's best wishes for the return to health of former Prime Minister Obuchi and our hopes and prayers for him and his family. I also want to take this opportunity to extend our profound thanks to Prime Minister Mori, Governor Matsukata, Mayor Tsumura, their staff, and all concerned for making a smooth transition and allowing this summit to proceed as planned in spite of the sudden, tragic illness of Mr. Obuchi. The efforts you have made to keep this summit on track are a remarkable indication of the significance Japan places on its relationship with the Forum and we deeply appreciate them. So thank you for showing such a strong endorsement of PALM 2000.
   I would also like to express our gratitude to the Emperor and Empress for the honor of their audience with the Forum leaders and to the people and government of Japan for their kind hospitality and generosity. I want to offer a special thanks to the people and government of Miyazaki prefecture for sharing with us the great beauty of their home: All of the support we have seen already from so many people here is very gratifying indeed.
   This is only the second summit of the SPF and the government of Japan, yet the history of the relationships between the Forum, its members, and Japan is a long one. For decades, Japan has proven to be a great neighbor, friend, and ally of the Forum members. Japan has consistently supported our initiatives to grow and develop, to become self-sufficient, to obtain recognition from the various nations and international organizations of the world, and to participate fully in the global community. With technical assistance and training programs, foreign aid, and political support, Japan has contributed greatly to the development of our region. Furthermore, Japan's support has been constant. In good times and bad, even while facing its own troubles, Japan's commitment to the Forum, its individual members, and the region as a whole remained unwavering. There is no denying that Japan deserves our deepest gratitude for its steadfast support of the Forum and its members.
   For our part, the Forum and its members have lent our voices in support of Japanese initiatives in international for a, recognizing our common interests in the new frontiers we face. As we have grown, we have taken a greater role in supporting stability in the region, to everyone's benefit. We have provided Japan with markets for Japanese goods and services while providing Japan with imports from our countries. We have supported and taken part in scientific research efforts throughout the region with Japan. And we have welcomed Japan's people, to our homelands, providing them with beautiful, safe and comfortable havens for rest and relaxation.
   Throughout the long relationship the Forum and its members have enjoyed with Japan, there have been vast changes. Still, for all those changes, some things have remained constant: our shared perspectives, our common objectives, our mutual respect and esteem, and our shared body of fundamental values. Out of those elements, our relationship has grown and continues to grow, expand and deepen. As changes occur at an ever-increasing pace, we all should be committed to full, frank, and open discussion of all matters, which touch, upon our shared areas of interest, even those areas on which we may not entirely agree, if our relationship is to continue to grow. Through sharing our views on such matters in discussions like those we will hold here today, our mutual respect and friendship will continue to mature, broaden, and deepen.
   This second summit of the Forum leaders and Japan reflects the ripening of our relationship. Our first summit, only four years ago, was almost entirely concerned with economic matters. While economic concerns will also be a major part of PALM 2000, the agenda confirms that our relationship and mutual interests have moved beyond fiscal issues to include social, political, cultural, environmental, and security issues. The topics we will discuss will touch upon every aspect of our societies and help us set the stage for broader and deeper ties between the SPF, its members, and Japan. In order to help our discussions move forward, I would like to set forth some basic points which are key to understanding the views of the SPF.
   The defining characteristics of the Pacific island countries are their severe limitations. Land mass is extremely limited, arable land even more so. Our populations are small. Our physical isolation means that access to resources and to markets beyond our borders is severely limited. Our natural resources typically are of minimal quantity and variety. Our ancient and unique histories and cultures, which are a justifiable source of pride for us, sometimes can baffle, frustrate, or discourage potential outside investors, thereby inhibiting our chances for growth. All of these constraints conspire to limit our capacity for self-sufficiency and "home-grown" development.
   Many of these limitations are inherent and cannot be changed, at least not for the better. Still, while we may not be able to eliminate many of the constraints we face, we can at least begin to minimize their influence over our existence.
   Improved communications links and collective action comprise two sources of hope for Pacific island nations. Advances in communications and information technology can allow us to obtain education and training at home, without the monetary and social costs inherent in sending out people abroad, and potentially enable us to diversify our economies with minimal environmental degradation. Those links provide us with global perspective necessary to function in the world today. At the same time, they allow us to inform the world about our concerns, to convey the message that we are unique and we deserve and require special consideration from the rest of the world. Collective action through fora such as the SPF can mitigate the effects of our small size and population. We have already begun to assert ourselves through the SPF - at the 30th South Pacific Forum, we commissioned our respective officials to negotiate the terms for creating a single Pacific-island market effectively merging all our resources and commodities so that we will be more attractive to, and have more say in, international trade. We drew the attention of the entire world at the U.N. forum on small island developing states and again at COP5, the Fifth Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, when we made our environmental concerns heard through repeated and coordinated interventions.
   Still, for the time being, economic and environmental vulnerability remain fundamental facts of life for the Forum island countries. Environmental vulnerability is obvious. The fragile ecosystems of our countries mean that even slight changes can produce potentially devastating results. Minor climate change and sea level change can destroy arable land, produce coral bleaching, cause changes in crop viability, and cause shifts in migratory fish routes, all of which can have severe impacts on our countries. Any harm to our environments can also threaten tourism, one of our prime sources of revenues.
   Economic vulnerability is also an undeniable aspect of our existence. Most member countries are dependent upon a very limited number of trading partners. Changes in their policies or downturns in their economies, can have severe impacts on Pacific Island countries. International bodies which fail to understand or care about our special circumstances can impose requirements on our trading partners which indirectly jeopardize our trade and further marginalize our markets.
   Many challenges cannot be addressed by individual nations acting alone. Management of marine resources is one example. Our countries lie in one of the few regions which have not yet been seriously compromised by overfishing. Our fish stocks will remain vitally important, both within the region and outside the region, for the foreseeable future. Our territories encompass some of the healthiest reef systems left on the planet. The world is just beginning to understand the full value of those coral reefs, not just for the regions which support them and which they support, but also for the world. We therefore must tend to those resources with care. The need to protect those resources from threats which originate outside our individual borders and outside our control plus the limited resources we have as individual nations mandate that the entire region, if not globe, contribute to the effort to conserve those vital assets and use them wisely.
   Health issues represent another area of transitional concern. History makes clear that diseases do not respect borders. HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases in particular represent a threat to the region. The threat can be expected to grow as immigration grows and as traditional values continues to lose ground to western norms. Changes in lifestyle have resulted in a host of chronic ills, all of which place long-term, high-cost demands on health-care systems. Simply put, diseases weaken communities, nations, and entire regions and needs a regional, if not global, response.
   Hand in hand with the globalization of the economy has come the globalization of crime. Every factor which erodes barriers between markets also carries with it new opportunities for transnational criminal activity. Financial crime is growing. Drug trafficking and other crimes associated with it are well established and continue to grow despite our best efforts at interdiction and eradication. In some cases, our legal systems have not kept pace with societal changes and our codes fail to appropriately treat certain wrongful activities as crimes. To adequately respond to growing transnational crime, we need effective regional mechanisms for pooling resources and information, for arriving at common understandings of what acts are crimes, and for mutual assistance in investigation, capture, and prosecution of criminals.
   From the foregoing, it is clear that there is much more than simply the economic dimension of our relationship which can grow and produce substantial benefits for us all. The South Pacific Forum members look forward to addressing these and other related issues, to starting discussions which will not be limited to our meeting today, or carried over only to Monday's meeting, but will become an ongoing dialogue on all topics of common concern to Japan and the Pacific island countries. So, in closing, let me once again express our great thanks to our hosts and emphasize the value we place on this opportunity to engage in frank and friendly discussions with one of our truest allies.