Ryuzo Saito
Director, Pacific Islands Centre
01 October 2026
Today, the Pacific Islands Centre (PIC) celebrates its 30th anniversary.
PIC was established on October 1, 1996, by the Government of Japan and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat with the mission of “promoting trade, investment and tourism between Japan and the Pacific Island countries and contributing to the sustainable economic development of each Pacific Island country.” The Analects of Confucius says, “At thirty, I stood firm.” As we reach this significant milestone, PIC has grown into an international organization with a firm foundation and functions that fulfill the purpose for which it was founded.
We owe this achievement entirely to the warm support of public and private sector stakeholders in Japan and the Pacific Island countries, and we express our sincere gratitude to all of them.
Over these 30 years, trade between Japan and the Pacific Island countries has grown significantly, particularly since Papua New Guinea (PNG) began exporting LNG to Japan in 2014, and the economic ties between the two sides have steadily strengthened. With energy prices surging amid the recent situation in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere, the geopolitical importance of this relationship has grown even further. In investment, Japanese electric power company has a taken equity stake in state-owned utilities in the Pacific Island countries and participate in their management as partners. In tourism, direct flights now operate to PNG, Palau and Fiji.
As business exchanges between Japan and the Pacific Island countries have become increasingly active, PIC has, in line with the Leaders’ Declaration of the 7th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM7), dispatched joint public-private economic missions to the Pacific Island countries every year, except during the COVID-19 pandemic, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, to support the expansion of Japanese companies’ business in the region. PIC has also strengthened its ties with counterpart organizations in the region, including by concluding Memoranda of Cooperation with the PNG Investment Promotion Authority and the Pacific Tourism Organisation, which is headquartered in Fiji.
In recent years, as the Pacific Island countries face global challenges such as sea-level rise caused by global warming and marine plastic pollution, expectations are growing for Japanese companies, with their internationally competitive technologies, to help solve these problems. Japanese companies are responding by developing initiatives that aim to achieve both social contribution and corporate profit. They take into account the market characteristics of the island countries and, centered on renewable energy such as solar power, combine diverse businesses to create economic viability through locally rooted circular economies. This is in line with PIC’s founding purpose, and PIC is proud to support several of these projects.
Furthermore, as the concept of economic security takes hold, new business developments are emerging through economic cooperation among allied countries. Multilateral initiatives, that go beyond the bilateral relationship between Japan and the island countries and involve public and private stakeholders from neighboring countries as well, are becoming increasingly important. We believe this is precisely the moment to make effective use of the diverse domestic and international networks that PIC has built to date.
As PIC, having “stood firm at thirty,” aims for further growth over the next 30 years, we will hold our founding purpose in our hearts as an unwavering mission. We also intend to carry on the steadfast passion of our founders, who sought to build close relations between Japan and the Pacific Island countries through private-sector business.
In response to changes in the business environment surrounding both sides, we believe it is important for PIC to go beyond simply connecting stakeholders and to fulfill a “catalytic function.” By combining the diverse knowledge and expertise we have accumulated, we will propose and support business projects that bring benefits to both Japan and the Pacific Island countries.
Above all, we are confident that further expanding and deepening our collaboration with the stakeholders in Japan and the Pacific Island countries who support PIC’s activities will be the greatest foundation for PIC’s leap forward.
With this milestone as a new starting point, all of us at PIC will do our utmost to serve as a bridge between Japan and the Pacific Island countries. We sincerely ask for your continued support and guidance.