 The Honourable Minister, Primary Resources and Tourism of Brunei, Honourable Ministers of Asia and Pacific Region, the media, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning to you all. It is a wonderful opportunity to be here in the city of Bandar Seribagwan in the Kingdom of Brunei. First, I would like to thank the Government of Brunei for the wonderful hospitality that was granted to us during our arrival, and also for the historical opportunity to pay a visit to His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei. It would be a time that I will not forget. Secondly, I would like to thank the organisers of this meeting for the invitation that was extended to Fiji to again be part of this very important meeting. Mr. AMC, during the first summit in Sydney in November 2014, Fiji was one of the countries that strongly supported its outcome document, known as the Asia Pacific Rainforest Recovery Plan. And since then, we have been working together with our key stakeholders in addressing our initial contribution to the draft document, which includes carrying out awareness and consultation and the identification of priority areas for collaboration under the Recovery Plan. We see this summit as an excellent opportunity to further build on the plan and consolidate it against the Agenda 2030, the 17 goals of the SDGs with its 169 targets, the Paris Agreement, the Deben Declaration, 2050 vision for forest and forestry, and to build on on the current political momentum that was created by our leaders under the Paris Agreement, the 2030 Agenda, and the Sustainable Development Goals in order to move forward from plan into action within the Asia Pacific region. Mr. AMC, forest will continue to play a vital role in many countries within the Asia Pacific region in contributing to national economic development, food security, employment, and in supporting livelihoods in rural areas. But at the same time, there is a growing challenge in addressing the needs for agriculture expansion and in Fiji communities are also requiring land for aquaculture development. There is a strong need for a more integrated approach in addressing issues of sustainable forest management and sustainable land management. We are moving into a time where forestry can no longer be separated from agriculture and fisheries. A more holistic approach is needed within the region in order to ensure the effectiveness of the programs we are putting in place, targeting the sustainability of our forest resources and ecosystems. Putting in place a platform for collaboration in areas of policy development and implementation of activities to include forestry, agriculture, fisheries, Ministry of Local Government and Environment, Ministry of Lands, and the Ministry of Rural Development will be a vital and key strategy for moving forward towards the implementation and achievement of common goals and targets across the region. Climate change will continue to be a very important issue for Fiji in years to come. While Cyclone Winston, the war storm recorded in the southern hemisphere, hit Fiji in February this year with wind speeds of over 230 km per hour and momentary wind gusts of over 325 km per hour. In some instances, whole villages were completely flattered. TC Winston left behind 44 casualties and a total damage cost of around 500 million US dollars and the World Bank estimated the total cost over 300 million US dollars on climate change adaptation measures between now and 2014. Mr. MC, it will take some time for Fiji to rebuild and fully recover from the effects of TC Winston and we are very grateful to those who provided assistance in various forms during our time of need. Adaptation to climate change is an area that will be needing our very close attention. As the effects of climate change has the potential of undermining current national development efforts and due to the vast potential and multiple role of the forest in addressing poverty and ensuring ecosystem sustainability, the Fiji government has been steadily increasing the total budget allocated to the forestry department for the past number of years. Focus areas are in reforestation and afrostation in which we work with rural communities, private sector and NGOs in restocking deforested areas and in expanding forest cover. Stabs has also been undertaken with forest owning communities in collaboration with the private sector, NGOs and development partners in the protection and conservation of their forest resources through capacity building and identification of alternative economic opportunities. This has received a lot of support and interest from local communities. The main challenge in this area is how to develop the economy of forest owning communities in areas that does not destroy the natural resources or in areas that is totally outside of the natural resource sector. In community owned forest plantations, the Fiji government has also been providing assistance to forest owning communities in the utilization of their forest resources to ensure they get maximum benefit. Mr. IMC, I congratulate the government of Brunei for successfully hosting the second session of Asia Pacific Rainforest Summit and the Australian government for the wonderful leadership and continued support. Fiji is fully committed to and will continue to support the common objectives of the summit and the successful implementation of the Asia Pacific Rainforest Recovery Plan. Thank you.