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Other Pacific Nations

Other Pacific Nations

The General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific (GDOP) is determined to establish bilateral relations between Palestine and the Pacific nations. The GDOP has already begun an effective outreach program to establish full diplomatic relations with Pacific nations such as Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea among others.

In 2015, Palestinian Ambassador to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Izzat Abdulhadi attended the Pacific Islands Development Forum in Fiji. Ambassador Abdulhadi conducted productive meetings with officials from many different Pacific nations. One such meeting was with the Fijian Minister for Foreign Affairs Inoke Kubuabola, who expressed the willingness of the Fijian government to recognise the State of Palestine. Ambassador Abdulhadi also had the chance to discuss furthering bilateral relations with the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu Enele Sopoage, the Foreign Minister of the Marshall Islands Tony deBrum, and the Prime Minister of Tonga Samuela Akilisi Pohiva.

Palestine hopes to implement various programs to increase engagement with the Pacific region. Various potential cooperation pathways have been identified. These include promoting private sector investment, encouraging tourism between the regions, and sharing expertise in the medical and agricultural sectors. Following these pathways will help to further the interests of all nations involved.

One indicator of the level of support for Palestine from these nations is their vote on the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution that upgraded the status of Palestine to a Non-Member Observer State in 2012. The Solomon Islands and Tuvalu both voted in favour of this resolution, displaying their strong support for Palestinian statehood. Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga chose to abstain from voting. The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau were among the nine countries to vote against this resolution.

Palestine hopes to continue cooperating with all of the Pacific nations and to establish formal bilateral relations in the future.

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