U.S. EMBASSY SUVA
Office of Public Affairs

MR: Oct 15, 2007

The “Year of the Pacific” Is Just the Beginning

By Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill

The Pacific is a vast and important region.  However, it is much more than that to us.  The United States is a Pacific country, by geography and by history.  So we believe it is critical to work with our Pacific neighbors to promote domestic stability, good governance, and economic development.  Toward that end we provide around $200 million a year in assistance to Pacific Island countries.  The Millennium Challenge Corporation is also working with Vanuatu on a separate assistance compact totaling over $65 million. 

To highlight its importance to us, the U.S. Government declared 2007 the “Year of the Pacific.”  This encompasses a comprehensive strategy to promote enhanced regional prosperity, good governance, and cooperation.  We institutionalized regular high-level meetings between senior U.S. and Pacific leaders, including at the UN General Assembly and my own participation in the annual Pacific Islands Forum Post Forum Dialogue.  Last May we collaborated with the East-West Center to organize the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders meeting in Washington.

As part of our comprehensive strategy we created two new regional hubs in Fiji, one responsible for public diplomacy and the other for environment, oceans, and health issues. 

The new regional public affairs office in Suva will oversee and expand U.S. public diplomacy activities and re-establish the Fulbright Program in the region.  It will ensure that the Pacific Islands will be included in the competitive process for other U.S. exchange programs like the Humphrey Fellowship. 

On environmental issues, the U.S. is working together on a project to assist Pacific Island nations in protecting coastal areas from the effects of climate change (e.g., sea-level rise) and natural disasters.  We are providing staff support and partnering with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to improve food security through the collection and storage of crops resistant to sea-level rise salinization.  To strengthen cooperation even more, the State Department will dispatch a staff member to the Secretariat for four months beginning in November.  

Regarding public health concerns, the U.S. will organize a Summit on Diabetes Prevention in the Pacific in 2008 in cooperation with regional organizations.  The U.S. is increasing funding for basic health services in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia by approximately $1.2 million for a total of $25.82 million.  We are increasing funding for HIV/AIDS programs in Papua New Guinea by $500,000 to $2 million. 

Economic development is the key to the future.  We organized two workshops in the Pacific on the Generalized System of Preferences and Freely Associated States programs to assist exporters in building on the $265 million in exports from the region that entered the U.S. market in 2006, including $58 million that came in duty-free under the programs.  In addition, the U.S. made available to Pacific Island countries individually tailored consultations with U.S. trade officials to maximize their benefits from trade.  We are exploring other ways to strengthen commercial ties and develop trade capacity tools for the Pacific preference programs.

To ensure that the Pacific region’s financial system is not vulnerable to abuse by narco-traffickers, organized crime, and the financing of terrorism, we have established the Pacific Islands Anti-Money Laundering Program (PALP), a four year, $6 million program, headquartered at the Pacific Islands Forum.  The PALP, now in its second year, develops comprehensive anti-money laundering programs, including efforts to counter terrorist financing.
 
The relocation of U.S. forces from Okinawa to Guam is expected to promote economic development in the Pacific region.  The Guam relocation is a multi-year, multi-billion dollar undertaking – probably the largest U.S. military construction project since World War II.  We want to be very sure that the beneficial effects of the project – more jobs, increased regional commercial activity, a rise in tourism – flow to Pacific Islanders. 

On maritime cooperation, we are working with regional partners to enhance the protection of maritime resources, such as fisheries, and address a full range of transnational threats such as crime, smuggling, and proliferation.  Ultimately, we would like to see a series of bilateral and possibly multilateral arrangements that will support increased law enforcement cooperation and action to put our common house in order. 

Meanwhile, the Pacific region faces new challenges.  The Solomon Islands is a case in point.  Fortunately, the Regional Assistance Mission for the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has been very successful in restoring law and order in that country, and it retains widespread support among the population at large.  RAMSI is also increasing focus on improving good governance in the Solomons, an important goal.

One of the most pressing problems for us all began last December when Commodore Frank Bainimarama overthrew the lawfully elected government of Fiji.  We, as a community, must help Fiji regain its path towards democracy and development.

The Forum and its members have already taken a strong and unified stance on the coup, and the U.S. has sought to harmonize our response on Fiji with the region’s.  On September 28, my Principal Deputy met with Commodore Bainimarama, who was in New York for the UN General Assembly, to voice directly our widely shared concerns.  We want an immediate end to abuses of human rights and civil liberties; a clear and defined road map to elections, the return of constitutional government; and the military’s permanent return to the barracks.

These challenges are serious, but I believe they are also temporary. Our commitment to the “Year of the Pacific” signaled our commitment to work together with you, our neighbors, to build a common future.  That is our promise.