Fijian Minister for Defense, National Security and Immigration Joketani Cokanasiga met Swedish Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy Tobias Billstrom Saturday and discussed bilateral cooperation on immigration, Fiji's Ministry of Information said.

During their meeting in New York, Billstrom expressed the Swedish government's appreciation to Fiji in the successful conclusion of the Declaration on International Migration and Development that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, according to Fiji's Ministry of Information.

Billstrom also expressed Sweden's support to the Group of 77 on the issues of asylum and migration issues as all countries must work actively to put them on the international agenda.

On this note, he said the Swedish government believes that Sweden must make migration process, including labor mobility, easier for people to go and work in Sweden.

Billstrom assured Cokanasiga, who noted that Sweden is on Fiji's visa exemption list, that his department will try to follow through to reciprocate Fiji's generosity.

An average of 2,000 visitors from Sweden visit Fiji annually, according to Fijian government statistics.

Cokanasiga delivered the lead statement at the UN General Assembly on High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in Fiji's capacity as the 2013 chair of Group of 77 plus China, reiterating that the global nature of migration and the challenges surrounding that must be addressed.