＜太平洋戦争後半の1944年に独立歩兵第338大隊長(大尉)として大陸から南洋諸島に転じトラック島空襲後、トラック島に上陸した。同島では花島、その後水曜島に駐留。英米捕虜の管理を任されていたらしく、娯楽の無い大海の孤島にあってラグビーボールを自作し、部下や捕虜と楽しんだ。この伝聞を息子の喜朗は『森の清談』で早坂茂三に語っている。その後、同地で終戦を迎える。最終階級は中佐。＞
2008年9月の森元総理ミクロネシア訪問は私がしかけました。海洋安全保障事業を立ち上げるに際し、外務省が足を引っ張りだしたのでこれを黙らせるために森カードを使うよう、笹川・羽生に提案したのは私です。
＜森総理の太平洋島嶼国訪問・外務省のウェブから＞
2001年9月 森喜朗元総理大臣 ミクロネシア
2001年 小島外務大臣政務官、森前総理大臣 フィジー
2001年9月 森喜朗元総理大臣（立寄り）マーシャル諸島
2008年9月 森喜朗元総理大臣（特派大使、外交関係樹立20周年記念式典出席等）ミクロネシア
2009年1月 森喜朗特派大使（元総理大臣）（大統領就任式出席）パラオ
2008年9月 森喜朗元総理大臣（立寄り、デブルム外相と会談）マーシャル諸島
2012年6月 森喜朗元総理大臣 ミクロネシア
＊詳細の記録をウェブに見つけました。JICA/JETRO/PIFの共催だった。
JETRO/JICA/PIF INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
STATEMENT
W. Noel Levi, CBE Secretary General Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Suva, Fiji
Human Resource Development Policies For Sustainable Development In The Pacific Islands Region
Follow Up To The Palm 2000 Miyazaki Initiative
Nadi, Fiji September 24, 2001
1 The Former President of Palau, Mr. Nakamura, Honourable Ministers of Fiji and the Forum Island Countries, Representatives of the Government of Japan, Representatives of multilateral and international organisations, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am deeply honoured to be given the opportunity to address you at the close of this Symposium.
2. Firstly, on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum, I wish to thank the Government of Japan for the long-standing friendly association that it has maintained with the Forum Island Countries (FICs) as well as the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat. This commitment on your part, as evident from the two Japan-Forum Leaders' Summits in 1997 and 2000, has resulted in far-reaching initiatives that have fostered development within our region. The second Leaders' Summit in April 2000 in Miyazaki, Japan produced the document, entitled Miyazaki PALM Declaration - Our Common Vision for the Future, which contained three aspects of our Leaders' vision for a common future namely, Globalisation, Information and Communications Technology and, Promoting Industries.
3. JETRO is to be congratulated for its timely implementation of the mandate on Promoting Industries that it was given under the Miyazaki PALM 2000 Initiative. The positive feedback received from the seven FICs that your experts visited for consultations and in-country workshops late last year was very encouraging. The second phase of the mandate, by way of a Symposium in Tokyo last March, was also successfully completed and I can vouch for that myself, as I was also present at that gathering. And today, after having sat in during the various sessions, I can say with confidence that the objectives of this International Symposium have been achieved. Let me thank you all for your part in this. The question we would thus ask now is where do we go from here?
4. Before I dwell on this question, it is important to recall that much change has taken place since Miyazaki. As you all know, our global village continues to undergo rapid changes in almost every sphere of influence. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has moved forward in organising the 4th WTO Ministerial meeting, amidst an anti-globalisation stance by certain groups. Whether there will be a new round of negotiation or not is still very uncertain as the General Council is still negotiating with the WTO members on the possible draft Ministerial Declaration, which is yet to be released.
5. At this point, I wish to highlight major global issues, which concern our region and could adversely impact our development. Firstly, the terrorist attack on the USA has shown how vulnerable the world is, particularly in the areas of aviation, tourism, trade and investment. The Pacific Island Countries join the world in not only denouncing terrorism but also ensuring that such barbaric and ruthless acts are completely eradicated. In this context, the Pacific Island Countries need to make commitments towards joining the efforts of the international coalition against terrorism. It is therefore important to ensure that measures are in place to address such insidious crimes within the region as well.
6. Another related issue is the recent introduction of international refugees into the region. Whilst Nauru, the smallest FIC, has agreed to temporarily accommodate a ship-load of Afghan refugees on humanitarian grounds, we in the region would like to raise our concern on this development as it would exert extreme pressure on our very limited resources. This needs to be avoided at any cost as our small and vulnerable economies will be further exposed to social and economic problems which we could ill afford.
7. The other major issue, which I want to highlight, is climate change. Our Leaders in Nauru expressed deep concern at the non- ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by the USA. Some of our FICs are facing the threat of sea level rise. This will adversely affect the FICs' security and as well their economic and social well being. I wish to commend the Government of Japan on its strong position in relation to the Kyoto Protocol. I would also reiterate the Forum's continuing concern over the shipment of radioactive materials through the region and on that note, let me acknowledge here the constructive discussions taking place between Forum Members and government officials and nuclear industry representatives of Japan.
8. Ladies and gentlemen, I have covered various factors that could affect the region's industrial development and environment. On a more positive note, JETRO's Promoting Industries programme of support under the Miyazaki Declaration is relevant and it conforms to the FICs' desire for industrial development that is necessary for sustainable development. Whilst I acknowledge the contribution of both JETRO and the Pacific Islands Centre in Tokyo towards the region's economic development, more still needs to be done in order to improve investment and tourism flows from Japan to the FICs. In this regard, I would urge that the Pacific Islands Centre should have a "more Pacific face". I would strongly suggest that the Centre should keep close liaison with the FIC missions in Tokyo, which could act as an advisory body to the Centre.
9. The four sessions of the Symposium namely, Tourism, Environment Protection (Waste Management), Export Promotion and Market Development and, Information Technology, are inter-related and they all have the potential to influence the promotion of industries in the FICs and regional development for that matter. As you have discussed during the course of the day, enhancing the technical capacity of our human resources is crucial for the sustainable development of the entire Pacific region.
10. Tourism is one particular sector in which almost all of the FICs have a competitive advantage. A common constraint in this same group of FICs is the shortage of accommodation facilities. The Cook Islands is the lead example here.
11. It would be remiss of me not to highlight one other major constraint to tourism development, that is, access to land. As part of our endeavour to overcome this, the Forum Economic Ministers endorsed at their meeting in the Cook Islands three months ago, a set of potential guidelines for good land policy. The guidelines in themselves cannot be expected to solve land tenure and access problems in the Pacific but, they may point the way for significant progress to be made in finding imaginative country-specific strategies.
12. The challenge we now have at hand is, how can Japan raise its approximately 10% share of the 800,000 tourists who visit the FICs annually? To realise this, we would need to pursue some very important initiatives that include: strengthening the tourism policy environment within the region; troubleshooting and identifying the changing needs of the Japanese tourism market; intensifying tourism promotional campaigns; supporting national and regional tourism promotional bodies; facilitating exchanges and networking among these organisations; fostering co-operation with airlines, especially with existing operators between Japan and the FICs; technical capacity building; and, ensuring regular collaboration between the private sector and Government.
13. Promoting industries in the region has to be carried out in a manner that is sustainable, especially in light of the vulnerability of our physical environment. Hence, Environment Protection, the topic for Session 2 of the Symposium, was an appropriate subject. The region's lead environmental agency, the Apia-based South Pacific Regional Environmental Agency (SPREP), continues to be active in its mandated responsibility of guiding Member countries on the technical aspects of environmental issues. Some FICs have suffered irreparable damage to their environment, a lot of which is attributed to the pursuit of export-intensive growth. This has been costly but the lessons learnt from such experiences are invaluable to the rest of the FICs.
14. Let me also stress the good potential that exists in the FICs for small-scale eco-tourism business ventures. This is a growing sector, especially in relation to the desire for greater participation in business by indigenous resource owners. I am certain that there is still a lot of scope for improvement in eco-tourism, environment protection and waste management in the region. Therefore, we look forward to Japanese assistance and advice that would guide the FICs towards environmentally sustainable growth.
15. On the trading front, our aspiration for a greater share of the highly competitive Japanese export market would always remain. Your deliberations during the Export Promotion and Market Development session have emphasised the need for improved product development and marketing techniques. We would also like to strengthen the support services that the FICs have access to, particularly from the Tokyo-based Pacific Islands Centre.
16. Progress towards our economic integration has been considerable. The Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA) and the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) were endorsed by Forum Leaders at their meeting in Nauru last month. Once ratified by the FICs, PICTA would result in a market of well over six million people, bringing about greater opportunities for the region's locally made industrial goods.
17. I was anticipating the outcomes of the session on Export Promotion and Marketing to pave the way for more growth in FIC exports to Japan. May I add however, that we in the FICs would benefit a lot more from Japanese assistance that would help in boosting intra-regional trade even before PICTA comes into force. As alluded to earlier, this could be best realised from improved Japanese investment flows in the region.
18. The Miyazaki Declaration has also committed us to promote the active use of Information Technology (IT), which is the most cost-effective and practical means of overcoming our isolation. The effective use of IT would keep us abreast of developments from around the globe. Such acquisition and dissemination of knowledge would certainly be advantageous for the FICs as they move towards economic integration at the regional level and into the global economy. The growth of IT usage however, is restrained by a number of factors, the most prohibitive of which is the relatively high cost of telecommunication and Internet services throughout the region.
19. It is my sincere hope that the Symposium's session on IT has stimulated further Japanese interest in putting into place the basic pre-requisites for lower cost and more accessible IT services in the FICs, that is, independent regulation, liberalisation of services and private investment. Since IT is changing continually and becoming a more powerful tool that every work place and section of the community would need, the region will always welcome any Japanese assistance in this particular area. As you would all appreciate, IT is here to stay and it would play an increasingly substantial part on improving our global competitiveness. However, like globalisation, IT will also pose problems if not handled in a cautious way.
20. I would conclude by pleading for more pragmatic joint efforts between the FICs and Japan, which would take us forward and help us all in realising our Leaders' common vision as outlined in the Miyazaki Declaration for "Tomorrow's Pacific". However, I would like to be cautious here. Miyazaki should not be an end in itself but it should be taken to another level by extending the Miyazaki concept to a wider consultative group, encompassing perhaps a North Pacific Asian Leaders Forum to ensure an even greater collaboration.
21. It has been echoed repeatedly that a country's main resource is its people, so I offer my deepest gratitude to the Government of Japan for its assistance towards human resource development in the region. It is my wish that we all work together to implement the outcomes of this Symposium, which are vital for the sustainable development of our region. Finally, I wish to thank the Government of Fiji for the arrangements and courtesies extended to our dignitaries.
