Honourable Nanaia Mahuta and Delegation, Honourable Ministers of the Samoan Cabinet, Your Excellencies High Commissioners of NZ and the UK, Ladies, and Gentlemen.

E faatalofa atu i le paia maualuga o lo’o sasao nei i paia faa le Malo – faafetai le faamaopopo mai i lenei tali malo mo le Afioga i le Minisita o le Va-i-fafo o Niu Sila, Le Afioga ia Nanaia Mahuta ma lana aumalaga.

Sa iai le faamoemoe e auai mai le Minisita o le Va-i-fafo o Peretania ae peitai ua le pā’au mai ona o nisi o tulaga lē ma’alofia.

(Maori greeting)

E nga mana, e nga reo, rau rangatira ma, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa, tena koutou katoa. E tē minitā, Hon. Nanaia Mahuta, tena koe. Nga mema o te whare paremata noa Aotearoa, tena korua. Nau mai. Haere mai ki Samoa, e hoa mā.

Talofa lava and a very warm welcome to this luncheon in honor of the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of NZ and her delegation.

We were also expecting the Rt Hon James Cleverly, the Secretary of the State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom. Regrettably, he is not here due to a crisis situation developing in the Sudan. Nevertheless, I wish to acknowledge UK High Commissioners to Samoa and NZ and welcome you to this sharing of bread. Please convey to your Minister our best wishes and look forward to when circumstances will allow him to visit our shores.

Minister Mahuta your visit comes towards the conclusion of a year-long celebration of our 60th Anniversary of Samoa’s Independence. We received your former Prime Minister the Rt Honourable Jacinda Ardern with her multi-party and multisectoral delegation in August last year to commemorate not only the 60th Anniversary of our Independence but also the 60th Anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship between Samoa and New Zealand. This Treaty is unique and is premised on our historical relationship and more importantly our journey together into the future.

Your Governor-General also celebrated with us on her visit in September last year at a historical official Independence Flag Raising Ceremony on our bigger island of Savai'i.

Throughout this year Samoans around the country have been holding commemorative celebrations as families, villages, districts, schools, churches and organisations. Just last night I joined three Regional Organisations – the South Pacific Community (SPC), the University of the South Pacific (USP), and the South Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP) in a celebration event marking our 60th Anniversary.

The decision to make this 60th Anniversary of Independence a year-long celebration with the broadest participation in different parts of the country was to remind ourselves at this juncture of our journey as a country, that we must not lose sight of the sacrifices of our ancestors to create the modern State of Samoa and our collective responsibilities as people to further the aspirations of our forefathers and mothers to build a Samoa premised on the Rule of Law, an abiding faith in God and the maintenance of Samoan Tradition and customs to ensure peace and prosperity for our people.

Your visit also comes post-Covid-19. We reopened our borders last year with the receiving of Prime Minister Ardern’s delegation as alluded to earlier.

Covid-19 presented the world with many challenges with the impacts on our respective economies. We were most grateful and appreciative of the support and assistance of all our partners especially with the vaccination supplies. When we reflect on our 1918 experience of the Spanish Influenza where Samoa lost 25% of its population – the decision to close borders whilst medical responses were prepared and distributed was the best approach. We have been very fortunate to have a very low number of lives lost due to Covid.

I have appreciated the opportunity to have a broad-ranging exchange with you Minister Mahuta – our bilateral issues which were also reflected in the visits you undertook and agreements signed.

Regional unity continues to be a shared focus, especially in the context of evolving international/geo-political narratives and frameworks.

I would like to return to our hosting of CHOGM next year. In my recent visit to London to attend the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers’ meeting, it was also an opportunity to receive confirmation from the Palace of the dates for CHOGM – Which is the week starting 21st October next year.

It is Samoa’s intention that this meeting will be a Pacific Summit. We will be soon reaching out to our Pacific family to seek support and collaboration to ensure that we deliver a meeting that is substantive in content, efficient in coordination and administration, and welcoming in accommodation.

Lastly, I would like to wish you Honourable Mahuta, and your delegation a safe return to Aotearoa New Zealand. Again you are all most welcome and please enjoy the lunch. Soifua.

• Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa gave this speech when she hosted lunch in honour of the visiting New Zealand Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta on Friday 21 April 2023 at the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, Vailima.