At the recent Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers’ Meeting (FEMM) with the theme: “Stronger Together: Advancing Economic Resilience and Sustainable Future in the Pacific”, the need for Pacific countries to work together amidst the increasing global uncertainties was heavily emphasised by this year’s chair Prime Minister of Tonga Dr Aisake Valu Eke. Greater cohesion and deeper integration – not a cheap exercise and certainly one that Pacific countries cannot afford on their own – is being supported by multilateral development partners such as the World Bank, whose
Washington DC-based managing director and chief financial officer Anna Bjerde was in attendance.
IN her role, Ms Bjerde spearheads the World Bank’s work on the world’s most pressing development challenges — from poverty and climate change to food insecurity, debt, inequality, pandemics and conflict — overseeing an active portfolio worth $340 billion in programs across client countries.
Ms Bjerde spoke to The Fiji Times (FT) newspaper after attending the FEMM meeting last week.
FT: Can you share some of your reflections/key takeaways from your meeting with our DPM and Minister of Finance, and in general regarding your first visit to Fiji?
Ms Bjerde: It has been a real privilege to visit Fiji for the first time and to meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Biman Prasad. Our conversation was insightful and grounded in Fiji’s clear vision for inclusive growth and regional cooperation. My main takeaway from this visit is a reminder of what our work in Fiji and across the Pacific is really about — listening closely, collaborating and delivering results that improve the lives of the people in the region.
I also engaged with Ministers and Pacific leaders at the Forum Economic Ministers Meeting. While they are acutely aware of global challenges and their impact on the region, the Pacific is not waiting for others to define its future. Leaders are advancing homegrown solutions like the Pacific Resilience Facility, the region’s first climate fund that is Pacific designed, owned and led. They’re setting a high bar for how development partners, including the World Bank Group, work together to support their priorities. I also met with women leaders from the private sector and development partners on the challenges and opportunities ahead. The energy and ambition in these conversations have been truly inspiring and a highlight of my time here.
FT: I understand you attended a special talanoa session at FEMM where you mentioned that economic growth in the Pacific has slowed and while there are many challenges, there are also many opportunities. Can you talk about that and some of the regional priorities of the World Bank Group and what role you see Fiji playing in the region?
Ms Bjerde: At the Talanoa session during FEMM, I did speak about how economic growth in the Pacific is slowing – this is due to weak global growth, climate shocks, fading post-COVID recovery, declining tourism, high trade costs and increasing global policy uncertainty.
But there are very real opportunities for transformation, for both Fiji and for the region. We are supporting transformative change in the Pacific focused on jobs, health, education and resilience in infrastructure and financial systems. Let me give you a few examples. Pacific countries face the highest trade costs of the East Asia Pacific region: these are equivalent to an average of 210 percent of the value of the goods being traded. This is why we’re working with Pacific countries to reduce trade barriers and costs so they can expand trade within the region and globally to boost growth and create jobs. We’re also helping Pacific countries remain connected to the international financial system through regional correspondent banking. And in health, we’re preparing a regional initiative based in Fiji to deliver stronger, more accessible care for over two million people across several Pacific countries. Over the past 12 years, the World Bank’s work in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific has grown more than seven-fold but there’s still much more to do.
We are committed to a more deeply engaged, closer World Bank that delivers regional solutions, at scale.
Fiji is central to these efforts. As the second largest economy in the region and a hub for trade, connectivity and talent, Fiji is already playing a leading role, and we look forward to deepening our work together to scale these regional solutions that deliver for Pacific people.
FT: In your keynote address at FEMM, you mentioned about the World Bank moving closer to the Pacific. Can you explain a bit about what that means for Fiji and some of the thinking behind growing the Fiji office?
Ms Bjerde: For us, moving closer to Pacific communities means better understanding their needs, responding more swiftly and delivering results faster. For the first time, the World Bank’s work in the Pacific will be led by two Directors based in the Pacific region, with one here in Suva, with an expanded portfolio covering the South and North Pacific. We’re also increasing technical staff here and across the region to tailor development solutions to local priorities.
For example, in Fiji, we plan to double our staffing in the Suva office, have a much stronger presence and be able to respond better to the needs of the country and of the region.
FT: You also spoke about a new health transformation project for the Pacific that the World Bank is working on to combat NCDs. When is this likely to be launched, what Pacific countries are likely to host its pilot and would it also extend to other Pacific non-members of the World Bank?
Ms Bjerde: When World Bank Group President Ajay Banga visited Fiji last year, he spoke of the “silent emergency” of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease, a crisis robbing the Pacific of talent and potential through high rates of chronic illness.
In response, we have prepared the Pacific Healthy Islands Transformation Project (or PHIT) in partnership with Pacific Governments, which will be delivered later this year. The project will strengthen early prevention and detection of NCDs, invest in health worker training, and introduce digital tools so more care can be delivered closer to home.
PHIT will also support Fiji in modernising primary healthcare in rural and urban areas, and in establishing to a state-of-the-art regional hospital, improving access to specialist care for leading causes of death — such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes — across the Pacific.
This project also reflects our close partnerships with Australia, the Asian Development Bank and the OPEC Fund for International Development.
FT: Noting Fiji and World Bank partnership is more than 50 years now, any message on deepening partnership with Fiji and broadening it to regional collaboration as well?
Ms Bjerde: Let me begin by sincerely thanking the Government of Fiji for their warm hospitality this week.
We are proud of all that has been achieved through our long-standing partnership with Fiji for more than 50 years.
As mentioned earlier, we are expanding our presence in Suva to support a deeper, more engaged partnership, one that not only strengthens national outcomes, but also improves regional collaboration.
Fiji is central to the Pacific’s economic and development landscape. But Fiji is also well positioned to lead and benefit from upcoming regional efforts to facilitate regional trade, safeguard correspondent banking and transform health care delivery. These are just some of the ways we’re delivering faster results for the people of Fiji and the Pacific.
FT: Logistics ise and logic wise, now with Trump tariff driven, geopolitical tension driven global trade uncertainties becoming the new normal, how important or urgent is it for a deeper integration to take place in the Pacific?
Ms Bjerde: In today’s environment of growing uncertainty, smaller economies, such as those in the Pacific, are particularly vulnerable. Unpredictability makes it even harder to compete, plan and grow. That’s why deeper integration is not just important, it’s urgent. Economic and financial cooperation and integration will create scale beyond individual countries and will make the region more attractive to the private sector.
For example, to maintain correspondent banking relations, the Pacific countries have to pool their financial transactions and increase scale; and to increase scale, countries will have to harmonise their regulatory frameworks for payment systems.
Reducing trade costs is another issue that is crucial for Pacific countries so they can continue to trade with each other and the wider world to promote growth and job creation.
The PIF’s Pacific Trade Facilitation Strategy shows the strong regional demand for reform, and the World Bank is partnering with Pacific countries to reduce the cost of trade. For small island states, scale matters. Regional approaches like these create platforms where every country, regardless of size, can benefit from harmonised systems, shared services and greater connectivity to global markets.
