Government of the Federated States of Micronesia

President Mori Scheduled to Attend Summit Meetings in Majuro

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): July 10, 2009 - President Mori will be travelling to Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), next week to attend two summit meetings that the Government of RMI will be hosting. The first meeting is the 11th Micronesian Chief Executives' Summit (MCES) from July 13th through the 15th. This summit brings together the chief executives from the Marshall Islands, Palau, the FSM, including the President and the four state governors, and the governors of Guam and CNMI. The second summit meeting is the 9th Micronesia Presidents' Summit (MPS), from July 16-17, that includes only the Presidents of RMI, Palau and the FSM. The theme for both of the summit meetings is "Climate Change and the Energy Challenge: Proactive Leadership for a Resilient Micronesia - 2010 and Beyond."

During the MCES, the principals will listen to committee reports on regional issues of invasive species, energy, transportation, tourism, health, telecommunications, Micronesia Challenge, Pacific Workforce Investment Workgroup and the Pacific Islands Regional Recycling Initiative Committee. President Mori is prepared to provide support for two initiatives in the region. The first is the proposed Micronesia Center for a Sustainable Future, which is the institutional framework by which the Chief Executives can ensure that there will be more effective and coordinated sustainable development strategies and programs that are based on regional multilateral action, mutual cooperation, and shared knowledge. The second initiative is for enhanced telecommunication in the Micronesia region that could allow for roaming on cell phones from the FSM so they can work in RMI, Guam, Saipan and Palau.

For the MPS, there are several on-going issues and a few new issues to discuss. Some of the on-going issues are quarantine standardization, extradition treaties and laws, immigration and labor issues, the Pacific Plan, fiber optics cable project, regional trade issues, Micronesian Village and the regional Coast Guard Project through the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, to name a few. Some of the new issues on the agenda are the Micronesia Energy Challenge, The Majuro Declaration on Climate Change, and a Three Nations Air Carrier Arrangement.

FSM is taking a small delegation of technical people to work on the committees and a few support staff for President Mori. Accompanying the President to Majuro will be the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Lorin Robert, Secretary of Resources & Development, Hon. Peter Christian, Assistant Secretary of R&D, Mr. Marion Henry, Chief Division for Career and Technical Education, Jesse Sydney, FSM National Nutritionist for Department of Health and Social Affairs, Mr. Kipier Lippwe, Assistant Secretary for Communication, Mr. Jolden Johnnyboy, Program Manager for Environment Division of the Office of Environment and Emergency Management, Ms. Cindy Ehmes, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Tourism Unit in R&D, Mr. Bermance Aldis, and Mr. Larry Goddard, consultant from the Office of SBOC. The FSMPIO will also attend the summit meetings and provide daily updates and video coverage of the events.