Remarks by the Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council
Mr Siosiua Utoikamanu
Tuesday 9 September 2025
Pacific Island Forum (PIF) 54^th Leader’s Meeting
Leaders Dialogue with CROP session
Honiara, Solomon Islands

Salutations:

• Honourable Chair
• Excellencies
• Distinguished Delegates
• Ladies and Gentlemen

In line with the 2050 Regional Collective Action Progress Report, I will reflect on the emerging risks, the delivery challenges, and how we, as the CROP system, must remain fit for the future – and in particular, on a topic central to our collective future: regionalism and cooperation in education.

Our journey is not about making small adjustments, but about embracing the audacity to transform our world. For too long, we have been captivated by the question of “why?” Why are our systems fragmented? But progress is born from a different kind of inquiry — one that challenges the very fabric of the present.

The essential truth of transformative change is that it is led by those who refuse to accept the status quo. They are the dreamers who envision a world that has never existed and, instead of asking “why?” they ask the infinitely more powerful question: “why not?”

This is the mindset of true leadership and innovation. A better future is not only possible, but is a moral imperative. The only barrier to achieving it is our lack of imagination.

The ambitious 2050 vision for our Blue Pacific Continent demonstrates that we have already imagined a different future. But imagination alone is not enough. It must now be matched by resolve — by a willingness to reshape our institutions and confront the risks of fragmentation. If we settle for inefficiency, we risk remaining a collection of competing agendas, unable to respond to the great challenges of our time. But if we embrace the “why not?” mindset, our potential is limitless. We can architect a future defined by a unified, innovative, and resilient regional architecture.

We see the challenges clearly: climate change, the rise of non-communicable diseases, and persistent inequality. Emerging technologies are also reshaping our world. Artificial intelligence, in particular, will transform how we learn, work, and govern. The Pacific cannot afford to be only consumers or bystanders of these tools. We must adapt and shape how they are used in ways that reflect our cultures, our values, and our sovereignty.

This requires us to build a more powerful framework for education — rationalising our complex web of overlapping mandates into a coherent, nimble structure. This is not about cutting services, but about sharpening our collective focus and strengthening accountability. We must embrace evidence-based processes to ensure we are all responsible for outcomes.

And we at USP know something about evidence and outcomes. In close to 60 years, we have graduated nearly 70,000 alumni across our 12 member countries and beyond. Imagine the multiplier effect that contribution has had on our region – in our villages, in classrooms, in hospitals, in businesses, in industry, in government ministries, in cabinets, and even in this very room.

We must champion innovation, using technology to transcend geographical barriers and make education, health, and economic participation more accessible. We must invest in our sustainability, evolving our financial models from dependence toward self-sufficiency. And we must draw on both scientific research and traditional knowledge, while fostering inclusivity by engaging civil society, the private sector, and communities. Only through such an inclusive, evidence-based approach will our reforms endure.

Education is a public good, offering benefits far beyond the individual. It is the foundation of our collective security and prosperity. We often declare that our young people are our future. It is time we truly mean what we say and find new ways to make higher education more affordable and accessible.

We do not lack talent in the Pacific — talent is everywhere. But across our region there are 1.86 million young people aged 15 to 24, and less than 5 percent of them are estimated to be engaged in formal tertiary education. The challenge before us is to build the bridge between this vast ocean of talent and the opportunities that can unlock it, so that the next mind to cure disease, engineer climate resilience, or design a governance model for our region is not lost to circumstance but empowered to rise.

That bridge can only be built if we act together. And it is only you, our Leaders, who can help close this gap — by recognising education and knowledge as public goods and by investing in the institutions that connect our talent with global opportunity.

Our vision for the Pacific must be as bold as our potential. As George Bernard Shaw once said, “Some see things as they are and ask why. I dream of things that never were and say, why not?”

That must be our spirit. Our unity is our strength, and our future depends on it. Of the Pacific, for the Pacific, by the Pacific – this is how we protect our collective vision so that our priorities are set by us, not for us.

We cannot be limited by what the present allows; we must be driven by what the future demands. So let us ask together: Why not? If not now, when? If not us, who?

Thank you