Fiji, Tuvalu settle maritime boundary issue through talks

Fiji and Tuvalu signed a treaty on Friday, settling the maritime boundary issue between the two Pacific island neighbors.

After years of negotiation, Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama and his visiting Tuvalu counterpart Enele Sopoaga signed the Fiji-Tuvalu Maritime Boundary Treaty in Suva, the Fijian government announced, calling the move "a historic occasion".

"The signing took place in Suva and symbolized a significant milestone achievement for both countries as they concluded negotiations on the Fiji-Tuvalu memorandum of understanding on Maritime Boundary Delimitation Agreement," Fiji's Department of Information said in a statement.

The treaty formally establishes the extent of the national areas of jurisdiction between Fiji and Tuvalu as recognized in international law under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, putting to rest all the gray areas in maritime boundaries the two countries used to face in the past.

"As neighboring countries which not only share maritime boundaries but also close economic, political and cultural ties, we have set the pace for the negotiations on the other outstanding maritime boundary treaties that we have yet to conclude," Bainimarama said.

"As Pacific small island developing states, we have proved to the international community that we are no strangers to concluding highly technical and complex negotiations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," he added.

Bainimarama expressed his gratitude to Sopoaga for his leadership, political will and commitment to the process.

According to the Fijian government, the last time Fiji signed a maritime boundary treaty was in 1983 with France, which has a range of Pacific islands such as New Caledonia, French Polynesia, as well as Wallis and Futuna.