Ms. Desna Solifa, PIF Deputy Secretary General Governance

Mr. Beer Budoo, Consultant

Mr. David Tomlinson, UNIDO Technical Expert under Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative

Core Implementing Partners

Chairpersons, Pacific Islands Standards Committee, Pacific Islands Testing Committee and the Pacific Islands Metrology Committee

Senior Government Officials

Advocates of Progress

Ladies and Gentlemen

Bula Vinaka and Very Good Morning, Pacific family,

Let me begin by extending a heartfelt welcome to you all — friends, colleagues, partners — to Fiji, and to this defining moment for our region’s future.

To our partners from the Pacific Islands Forum, UNIDO, the European Union, the PACER Plus Implementation Unit, and our Forum Island Countries — Vinaka Vaka-levu for being here.

Your presence affirms a shared belief: that quality — in our systems, institutions, and exports — must no longer be a distant aspiration. It must be the standard.

A Journey Rooted in Regional Vision

We meet today in the heart of the Pacific not just to launch a policy, but to affirm a collective ambition — one first seeded in 2019, when our nations adopted the Regional Quality Statement.

We recognised then that fragmented systems and inconsistent quality were barriers to our development, trade, and sovereignty.

Since then, the Pacific Quality Infrastructure Initiative has laid strong foundations:

• Regional committees on standards, metrology, and testing
• A Medium-Term Framework aligned to trade, health, resilience, and readiness
• Coordinated assessments and growing technical collaboration among Forum Island Countries

This marks our pivot from groundwork to guidance. This regional policy — the Pacific Regional Quality Policy, or PRQP — is our collective blueprint to elevate quality infrastructure across the Pacific. It aims to harmonise standards, align national priorities, and unlock trade, safety, and development outcomes through shared systems and vision.

Why Quality Infrastructure Matters

Some may ask — why does this matter?

Because when our cassava is turned back at borders, when labs lack accreditation, or when substandard buildings fail under climate stress — it’s not about red tape. It’s about lost lives, lost confidence, and lost economic opportunity.

The pillars of Quality Infrastructure — standards, metrology, testing, certification, and accreditation — are not just technical tools. They are instruments of:

• Consumer and food safety – Ensuring that products meet recognised health and safety requirements, protecting our people and building public trust.
• Climate-resilient infrastructure – Applying standards to strengthen buildings, utilities, and systems that withstand natural hazards.
• Digital trust and trade – Verifying software, platforms, and e-transactions to ensure security in the digital economy.
• Export competitiveness – Aligning with international norms so that Pacific goods and services can enter and compete in global markets.
• Public health and economic resilience – Supporting diagnostics, clean water, safe medicines, and efficient trade systems.

Without QI, services lack trust and trade lacks traction.

The Fijian Experience: Progress with Purpose

In Fiji, we face the same constraints as many of our neighbours. But we continue to invest with purpose.

Over the past two years, the Fijian Government has allocated over FJD 3.1 million to strengthen our legal metrology infrastructure.

This includes:

• High-precision mass comparators
• Pre-packaging verification equipment
• A new axle weigher test rig being installed in Vatuwaqa

We have upgraded from Class 3 to Class 2 standard mass sets, and we are modernising our National Metrology and Standards legislation with support from UNIDO.

Our participation in regional metrology forums, including those supported by PTB and NMIA, connects us to global traceability through the International System of Units (SI).

These are measured steps forward. They reflect our national commitment to a quality infrastructure that meets international benchmarks.

Regionalism is Our Edge

The Pacific faces constraints of size and scale. But through regionalism, we find strength.

Our work through PISC, PIMC, and PITC, and the successful development of the Frozen Cassava Standard, proves that collective solutions work.

Other regions have walked this path:

• CARICOM built CROSQ, a harmonised regional QI body
• The African Union has integrated QI into its continental trade strategy

We can do the same.

Let us envision:

• Mutual recognition of conformity assessments
• A Pacific Accreditation Working Group
• Shared regional labs with SI traceability
• A treaty-based Pacific Quality Infrastructure Organisation

Quality as a Bridge to Inclusive Futures

This policy is not just about market access. It is about inclusion.

It is about:

• MSMEs meeting certification to supply hotels and export – removing market entry barriers and enabling small businesses to thrive.
• Women-led businesses confidently labelling their products – unlocking new sectors and championing inclusion through compliance.
• Farmers meeting safety and labelling standards – gaining fairer access to shelves, markets, and value chains.
• Students trained in labs with traceable equipment – building a workforce that is future-ready, technically skilled, and globally competent.

Quality must empower all levels of our society.

A Call to Action

The Pacific Regional Quality Policy — our PRQP — is not a finish line. It is the beginning.

In the coming days, I urge you to:

• Be bold in your national priorities
• Align with the regional vision
• Deliver outcomes, not just dialogue

Let’s not walk away with only presentations. Let’s walk away with purpose and Pacific resolve.

Because the world trade is not waiting for the Pacific. Neither should we.

Closing

As we say in Fiji: sa vakarau na gauna — the time is now.

Let this be the moment we moved from diagnosis to delivery.

Let this be the week we declared that the Pacific will define its own standards, build its own systems, and shape its shared future.

Vinaka vakalevu and Thank you.

And I wish you all a productive and visionary workshop ahead.