Biden Administration Set To Release First US-Pacific Island Strategy At Washington Summit

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2022) The United States will release the first-ever US-Pacific Island Strategy later on Wednesday to review with nations from the region at a historic summit hosted by President Joe Biden, an administration official told reporters.

The Biden administration is hosting Pacific Island nation leaders in Washington, DC, on Wednesday and Thursday for a summit designed to enhance US engagement with the region in areas of trade and security. The official said to expect a range of announcements in the next two days.

Attending the first-ever US-Pacific Island Country Summit will be leaders from Fiji, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and New Caledonia, according to the official.

Vanuatu and Nauru, the official added, are sending representatives and Australia, New Zealand, and the Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum will be present as observers.

The purpose of the strategy document is aimed at the concerns and the objectives in the Pacific as a whole, including efforts about how to organize disparate elements of the US government towards tackling issues like climate change, training, fishing, investment in technology, among other topics, the official said.

Pacific Island nation leaders will meet with State Department officials on Wednesday and then will meet with US President Joe Biden and US congressional leaders on Thursday, the official said.

Pacific leaders will also visit the US Chamber of Commerce on Thursday to engage with a broad array of American business groups ranging from tourism to travel to energy to technology, to essentially talk about how US business groups can be more actively engaged with the Pacific Island nations, the US official said.

On Tuesday, Australian media reported that the Solomon Islands will not sign onto an 11-point declaration that the United States and its Pacific Island nation partners are expected to sign during the summit.

One US official, in response to the report, said the United States has had very good consultations with Pacific Island nations, but there is more work to do. There is substantial areas of overlap with respect to what the United States wants to accomplish and do going forward and what the Pacific Island leaders expect, the US official said.

The US official confirmed that Solomon Island Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is in Washington to attend the summit.