08/06/2026
June 7, 2026
Lormont, France
DIASPORA AND FIJI 7s PLAYERS MEET IN LORMONT
The Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Lynda Tabua and Ambassador Tamata met with the diaspora communities in Bordeaux in the commune of Lormont in France.
Most of the diaspora were in Bordeaux to watch the finals of the HSBC Sevens Series which was eventually won by South Africa and the host country reigned supreme in their home ground. The Mayor of Lormont, Mr Philippe Quertinmont and his officials were also present in the diaspora event.
The Minister highlighted that she recently attended the Eight Assembly of the Global Environment Facility in Uzbekistan which discussed resource mobilization and official development assistance for Small Island Developing States and Fiji attended the Assembly as Chair of the Pacific Islands Small Islands States. She is also attending the Neptune Forum in France where she will deliver a key note address for Worlds Ocean Day and was pleased to be invited to Bordeaux before the Paris event. The Minister thanked the Mayor of Lormont for providing their facilities for the event and their continued support towards Fiji.
The Ambassador highlighted that a key area of responsibility of Missions and Embassies is the engagement with their diaspora members given their
important contribution to national development through remittances, knowledge transfer and direct foreign investment and trade.
In addition, the role of diaspora in contributing to their nation's development through active participation in constitutional reviews, budget submissions and national elections were also highlighted by the Ambassador.
Further, it was stressed that the Mission in Geneva is their office as it is a representative of the Fiji Government and is open to address any issues from the diaspora and will be a conduit between Government and diaspora communities. The Mission also took personal details of diaspora members in order to update its diaspora database.
The Fiji 7s Men's team and management were also present on June 7 and were hosted to dinner. The Ambassador on behalf of the Mission presented its contribution to the Manager of the Fiji 7s team as a token of appreciation of being good ambassadors of Fiji in the rugby field and thanked them for giving their all for the nation.
The Ambassador thanked the President of the French Fijians Support Association, Mr Jone Daunivucu and the former national rugby players and their families for organizing the event and mentioned that the Mission will work closely with the Association in progressing areas of national interest.
