[Source: Fijian Government]

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in marking the golden jubilee of the Fiji Hydrographic Service says the work they do is enabling Fiji to successfully trade with the rest of the world.

Bainimarama says Fiji can import more than 80,000 massive twenty-foot containers on cargo ships in a usual year and another 400,000 tonnes of loose cargo.

Bainimarama says as a blue economy Fiji depends on the FHS to allow ships to safely navigate Fiji’s ocean and keep the nation at the cutting-edge of ocean science.

He says the ocean is Fiji’s main bridge to the world and shipping is more critical today than ever before.

“Without well-mapped ports, all that food and those supplies, construction materials, vehicles, and other vital goods we rely on to run our modern economy would never arrive in Fiji, and many of our Fijian-made exports would never ship throughout the world.”

Bainimarama stressed that Fiji has made significant progress in the shipping world, adding that the protection of Fiji’s vast ocean should not be forgotten.

“This week we opened a consultation on a draft National Ocean Policy to do just that, as it maps our way towards the 100% sustainable management of every square kilometer of our ocean, with 30% to be as declared marine protected areas.”

The PM adds that Fijians will continue to call on the FHS in decades to come in an effort to keep the ocean safe.