Well, yandra everyone uh members of the media, distinguished members of the media, uh president of media association and your team acknowledge Stanley Simpson are also present here and to all members of it is a pleasure uh to be here today for the signing of this historic agreement of government support for the Fijian media association and the Pacific Media um association for your first ever inaugural um penis summit to be hosted by Fiji. I congratulate uh FO. It is a testament of your um commitment as well as your uh fortitude for bringing this historic uh event to Fiji. Through this agreement, the ministry is pleased to provide uh $27,000 uh to assist in hosting. I would have liked it to be more, but this is the beginning of more to come. This is more than a financial contribution. It is an investment in the strength, resilience, and the future of Pacific Media. Now through internet and digital platforms, information is more accessible than ever before. However, greater access to information does not always mean greater access to credible and reliable information. Now, while we recognize the many benefits of technology that's brought to our society, we must also acknowledge the challenges that come with this rapidly changing information environment. Our people are exposed to so much information. or what we'd call these days so much noise. So what is the responsibility of government partnered with our media association [cough] [clears throat] and all of your media and journalists to ensure that we sip through that noise and our people receive credible and accurate information in a timely manner. We also have the rapid development of artificial intelligence. It's created new opportunities where we can create and share information. But at the same time, it's made it easier for misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation to be spread through AI. This force places a greater responsibility on government and on the media to provide trusted information, uphold our professional standards of integrity, and help our communities to navigate through this increasingly complex digital environment. That's where the Pacific Media Summit, I believe, comes in. Your theme, reaching the remote media and digital innovation for a connected blue Pacific. It speaks directly to both the challenges we face also the opportunities. This summit will bring together journalists, editors, media executives, academics, development partners, and other stakeholders from across the Pacific and the world to share ideas, explore innovation, strengthen professional standards, and find practical ways to ensure reliable information reaches even our most remote communities. So for the summit to be hosted in Savu, I don't know if Stanley had anything to do with that, >> but for it to be hosted in Sabu Sabu, this is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to take such important and historic events out of Sula, out of Italy and out all the way to Fiji. Thank you, Pina, for your leadership. Thank you madam for just your foresight and for your committee and your um Fiji media association to to take you to such a a location such as Salisav the hidden paradise >> a beautiful part of Fiji maybe second only to Gandu but it's a beautiful beautiful place and I know we know that it will be a resounding success let's continue to strengthen our partnerships embrace innovation invest in our media professionals and ensure that technology works to connect and empower people rather than divide us for such an important time as well where we are heading into the general elections. We are undergoing constitutional review also the truth and reconciliation work as well as other laws that are currently before parliament that you may say we a lot of us may have uh not seen it brought to parliament in the last few terms. It's important for the media to partner with us as the fourth arm of the estate. The media holds government accountable and of course the role of the media is very important is to report to entertain most importantly to investigate and this is something I hope that PINA summit will be able to uh elaborate on and encourage our media journalists to go further into the need for more investigative media for here in Fiji especially something that uh perhaps we have struggled with in the past due to the um the lack of uh available government information but the coalition government is committed to provide information for government that the media seek in order to inform our people properly and with the right information. This is a Pacific meeting and and just on the back of uh our meeting in Palao for the Pacific Island uh leaders meeting in Palao uh we saw the presence of media there taking Pacific to the world and these are our own journalists from the Pacific. Fiji was very proud to witness this. I know Stanley and a few others have had history of being there in the first some of the first meetings. It's got nothing to do with his age, but maybe it wasn't too long ago, but thank you to our veteran journalists who are present here, Rossi Stanley, a few others who continue to lead the way for our Fiji journalists, a benchmark so to speak, to follow in their footsteps. The government is very happy to support this. look forward to welcoming our regional media partners from around the Pacific for this gathering and of course for important conversations and partnerships moving forward in [clears throat] >> honorable minister secretary um and colleagues on behalf of the featured media association I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the government of Pichi for its sponsorship towards the 8th Pacific Media Summit as you rightly mentioned in SA. The contribution is a welcome uh um you know to our organizing team to uh to host our Pacific uh colleagues. We welcome government support while at while at the same time maintaining our independence to report fairly and ask difficult questions both that matter to the public that we serve. uh for people in remote communities uh we know that getting a reliable information can be especially difficult that experience uh their experiences also deserve to be reported so that national decisions reflect what is happening beyond our main centers that is why the work of the Pacific Islands News Association it matters and and that's why the Fijian media association uh two years ago, we knew we had put up our hand to uh to host the summit. It brings together journalists and media organizations that face many of the same pressures and we all know the stretched newsrooms that we work in, limited budgets and the challenge of serving communities scattered across vast distances. So Bina gives us a space to share those experiences, strengthen professional standards and support colleagues. um holding the summit in Veno Levu and the practical theme um of reaching the remote media digital innovation for connected um blue Pacific um is is something that uh you know we really wanted to uh to give a practical example of of what that means. So the program uh starts with two days of workshops. Journalists will develop skills in in innovative storytelling and digital reporting with sessions also covering climate change, oceans and organized crime and corruption. There are subjects these are subjects our newsrooms must understand well enough to explain clearly to the public. The prime minister, honorable situ. The following day, the deputy prime minister, honorable man Kamita is scheduled to join the opening high level discussion on sustainable media and a democratic blue pacific. The main sessions will examine how newsroom can remain financially sustainable, respond to misinformation and the use of artificial the responsible use of artificial intelligence. Public service broadcasting will also feature alongside opportunities for women and young media leaders. On Wednesday evening, September 23rd, we will take the discussion to Numbalu village for the FMA climate town hall. Community members will have the opportunity to raise concerns and question leaders directly. Our media houses, as we've done in the past, will work together to bring that conversation to a wider wider audience. for visiting Pacific journalists. It will also be an opportunity to see our town hall model in practice. So again uh madame minister and uh to the government of Fiji, thank you for this uh general support and we look forward to uh welcoming our Pacific colleagues and making this summit of oil investment. [applause] So if anything breaks she's Yes, she's answerable. She's the one This one is level as >> you want to hold it up. No, one more. >> Thank you. Three, two, one. >> Thank you.