Fijian Navy Endorsed As Member Of Western Pacific Naval Symposium At Virtual Conference

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces Naval Division was officially endorsed as a member of the 17th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), which was hosted virtually by the Philippines Navy on Tuesday.

Its membership application was submitted and accepted during the 2019 WPNS hosted by the Royal Brunei Navy.

The application was supported by counterparts from the Australian and New Zealand Navy during Tuesday’s symposium principals’ session.

Milestone achievement

This was a milestone achievement for the Fijian Naval Division since its inception 46 years ago.

The WPNS consists of 30 members, including prominent navies in the Pacific, like the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, China, Japan, and Russia.

In addition, Pacific rim navies such as Brunei, Cambodia, Chile, Mexico, Indonesia, ROK, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka are also prominent members.

The WPNS membership provides excellent opportunities for the Fijian Navy to strengthen regional maritime security partnerships.

The Boe Declaration for regional states recognises that the Pacific is becoming “an increasingly complex regional security environment driven by multifaceted security challenges”.

Challenges

To meet these challenges, the WPNS membership provides a framework to engender great opportunities to strengthen maritime security partnerships and collaboration between regional navies and large ocean states.

Partnerships aimed at fostering confidence and trust in operations among regional maritime forces.

From a national maritime security perspective, the WPNS membership offers further naval security interoperability, naval best practices and governance; professional development and capacity building across all naval ranks; information sharing; technical support and capability support.

This gives the Fijian Navy the impetus to meet its obligations under Fiji’s Oceans Policy and National Climate Change Policy in addressing Fiji’s non-traditional threats.

During Tuesday’s virtual WPNS Plenary session, the Fijian Navy offered to host the WPNS Junior Officers Interaction Programme (JOIP) in 2023 in tandem with a regional exercise to be hosted by the Fijian Naval Division.

A Fijian Navy statement said the JOIP initiative was part of obligation as a member of the WPNS.

“After our membership endorsement on Tuesday, the USA Navy, Chiefs of Navy of Australia and New Zealand have reaffirmed their pledge to continue supporting the Fijian Naval Division and the region,” the statement said.

“Looking forward, our WPNS membership will be leveraged to support the Fijian Navy reforms, including the MESC (HQ Navy) and its integrated Domain Fusion Centre, new infrastructures, and capabilities.

“The WPNS membership is just another milestone for the Fijian Navy in its efforts to be a smart, modern and capable navy.”