Second US–Pacific Island Country Summit to be held September 25-29

Leaders of the Pacific island countries will meet with US President Joe Biden on September 25-29, said Henry Puna, secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Report informs referring to TASS.

The staff is now negotiating with Washington, agreeing on the agenda for a meeting with President Biden next week, Puna said, expressing hope that the summit will address the actual problems of the region, including the effects of climate change and economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Puna also emphasized that recently the Pacific region has often become the subject of strategic interests, competition and manipulation associated with geopolitical rivalry between the US and China.

The first US–Pacific Island Country Summit was held on September 28-29, 2022 in Washington. It focused on issues related to investment, energy and shipping safety. Representatives from the Kingdom of Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, the Cook Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, French Polynesia and New Caledonia visited the American capital to meet with the president of the US.