Excerpt from The Guardian
A Zoom meeting of prime ministers and presidents was never going to be a particularly smooth affair.
There was what looked like a virtual walkout, veiled criticism of certain nations, a video address from the US president and of course, technical issues: this is diplomacy in the age of Zoom.
Presidents and prime ministers of Pacific nations, including Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern, logged on for the leaders’ meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) on Friday morning, the most important diplomatic gathering in the Pacific.
The PIF leaders meeting normally takes place amid a week of talks and cultural events. This year it was due to be hosted in Fiji, with the country’s prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, saying in his address on Zoom: “I initially hoped that when we convened here in Fiji for the 51st Pacific Islands Forum, the worst of the Covid pandemic would be behind us.”
Instead, Fiji is in the grip of a deadly Covid-19 outbreak that has seen the Pacific country at times have the highest per capita infection rate in the world over the past week. While Bainimarama said he looked “forward to welcoming you all to Fiji in person over a bowl of kava in the very near future”, for now at least, we’re back to Zoom.
Island Innovation is a social enterprise and digital media company at the intersection of sustainable development and communications, offering specialised services across various sectors. We bring together the private sector, government, utilities, NGOs and universities to advance innovation for sustainability and prosperity in islands worldwide.
