Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa met with His Majesty, King Charles III at Buckingham Palace last week as well as the U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.

They discussed areas of mutual interest to work together on in order to strengthen bilateral relations between the U.K. and Samoa, according to a statement issued by Samoa's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade last Friday, which was distributed to the local media on Monday by the Press Secretariat.

She also met with the Commonwealth Secretary General and Deputy Chairman, Lord Swire of the Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council.  The discussions throughout last week were critical to the preparations for the hosting of the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa in 2024.

Fiamē also celebrated Commonwealth Day last Monday which revolved around the theme "Forging a sustainable and peaceful common future". 

Some of the events included the flag-raising ceremony hosted by the Speaker of Parliament, the Royal Commonwealth Society Service at Westminster Abbey, and the Commonwealth Day reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by His Majesty, King Charles III, and the Queen Consort.   

The Commonwealth family also celebrated the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Commonwealth Charter which was signed by Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II on 11 March 2013, and was re-signed by His Majesty King Charles III. 

The milestone in the journey of the Commonwealth was marked by the raising of the flag for peace where Prime Minister Fiamē, as the incoming chair of the Commonwealth, delivered the remarks.

"As we raise the flag of peace, we raise hope for our commonwealth family, for our youth, civil society, small and vulnerable states and we raise hope for a more resilient, sustainable, and peaceful common future."

The Commonwealth flag of peace represented shared values and principles of the Commonwealth, including cooperation on economic and social development, diversity, respect, friendship, and the promotion of peace around the world.

Earlier last week Prime Minister Fiamē was elected the Chair of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) before she proceeded to Chair its 62^nd Meeting. 

The CMAG is made up of a rotating group of foreign ministers from eight countries, drawn from different regions, plus the foreign minister of the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office. The current CMAG members are Barbados, Belize, Canada, Ghana, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Rwanda (Chair-in-office for the Commonwealth), and Samoa.

The Ministers in their deliberations recognised that the fundamental values and principles in the Charter are the prerequisites for achieving and sustaining peace and that without peace the full potential of the Charter cannot be achieved.

Prime Minister Fiamē was also the key guest speaker at the third session of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Marlborough House Dialogues held on d14 March 2023 on the theme “Women’s Leadership in the Commonwealth” where she shared her journey, the challenges, and opportunities in becoming a young female holder of the paramount chiefly title Fiame, the first female Cabinet minister, Deputy Prime Minister and now Prime Minister of Samoa. 

Prime Minister Fiamē also took the opportunity during the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting to brief Ministers on Samoa’s preparations so far, and its approach for CHOGM in Samoa, now earmarked for October 2024. Samoa’s delegation also used the opportunity to discuss with some of its partners' potential areas of assistance for hosting CHOGM24.

The week-long meetings in London ended with the Prime Minister speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Australian High Commission which focused on "Ambitious Net Zero Targets with Credible Action: Supporting Small Island States." This was an important opportunity to continue to push for more ambitious climate action and to consistently accentuate what more needs to be done to address the climate crisis. 

Several events of the Commonwealth Day celebrations saw the participation of Samoans such as James Faiumu, a Chevening Scholarship Student from Samoa who was selected to be the Samoa flag-bearer for the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey. 

The Samoa Honorary Consul, Lauaki Fereti Tuilagi led a small group of Samoans to sing at Buckingham Palace during the reception hosted by His Majesty King Charles III; while another group performed a Samoan Siva at the Commonwealth Marlborough House Dialogue in celebration of women in leadership. Brianna Fruean, a former Commonwealth awardee and youth environmental advocate, also spoke during the Commonwealth Day service last Monday. 

Prime Minister Fiamē was accompanied by Peseta Noumea Simi, the C.E.O. of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Francella Strickland, the High Commissioner of Samoa to the United Kingdom, Fiona Lene-Samoa and Raenynn Manuleleua of the Samoa High Commission in Brussels; and Vani Vai, ADC.