The Prime Minister, Hon. Mark Brown, has concluded the Cook Islands’ participation in the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Koror, Palau, capping a week of major announcements, bilateral meetings and regional engagement. The Cook Islands travelled to the Forum by way of Auckland, where the Prime Minister attended the inaugural Realm Leaders’ Meeting alongside the leaders of New Zealand, Niue and Tokelau.
Two announcements stood out for the Cook Islands. The first was a major investment in a safe and reliable port for Penrhyn (Tongareva): the United States, through its Department of State, intends to contribute US$50 million (approximately NZ$84 million) and New Zealand NZ$17.5 million (approximately US$10 million) toward the upgrade, delivered in partnership with the Cook Islands. The second was new investment in Marae Moana, the Cook Islands’ Sacred Ocean, in partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund and BirdLife International.
“Everything we carried to this Forum, we carried on behalf of our people,” Prime Minister Brown said. “From a lifeline port for Tongareva to lasting protection for our ocean, this has been a week of turning long-held priorities into action, on our own terms, and for our own future.”
The Prime Minister held a series of bilateral meetings on the margins of the Forum. He met with the Kingdom of Tonga, our Polynesian family; with New Zealand, where he and Foreign Minister Winston Peters welcomed the progress on the Penrhyn project and discussed New Zealand’s hosting of the Forum in 2027; and with China, as the two countries look ahead to thirty years of diplomatic relations in 2027 and to deepening practical cooperation in areas such as technology, machinery and equipment and capacity building.
He also met with Japan, marking fifteen years of diplomatic relations and welcoming the cooperation between the two countries from the new inter-island vessel and grassroots funding in support of our communities, with officials to explore how the partnership can be strengthened further; with the Nippon Foundation, on ocean stewardship and opportunities for young Cook Islanders; and with Singapore, reaffirming a warm relationship and a shared focus on economic resilience, energy security and the transition to renewable energy. Bilateral meetings were also held with Spain and Canada to discuss deepening cooperation, as well as with the Green Climate Fund to discuss further opportunities of funding to strengthen Cook Islands resilience.
The Cook Islands also took part in the meetings of the Smaller Island States, the Polynesian Leaders Group whose Charter the Cook Islands is helping to develop, and the Pacific ACP grouping, and joined the Ocean Partnership Roundtable hosted by Palau. The Prime Minister was a leading advocate for the Pacific Resilience Facility, the Pacific’s first collectively owned international financial institution, now established in the Kingdom of Tonga.
“The Pacific Resilience Facility is a fund by the Pacific, for the Pacific,” the Prime Minister said. “I have been part of this journey from the very beginning, and to see it now delivering in our communities is a proud moment for our whole region.”
At the Leaders’ Retreat, the Forum agreed a number of significant outcomes for the region, among them, resolving the framework that will guide how the Pacific engages its partners, reinforcing a transparent, accountable and Pacific-led approach to partnerships in support of the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. These and other outcomes are captured in the 2026 Forum Communiqué.
The Prime Minister thanked President Surangel Whipps Jr and the people of Palau for their warm hospitality, and reaffirmed the Cook Islands’ commitment to a united, resilient and self-determining Blue Pacific.
