Year of the Pacific just the beginning.

Year of the Pacific just the beginning - November 14
An op-ed in the Dominion Post by Assistant Secretary of State Chris 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 neighbours to promote domestic stability, good governance and economic development. To that end, we provide about $290 million a year in assistance to Pacific Island countries. The US Government's Millennium Challenge Corporation is also working with Vanuatu on a separate assistance package of more than $65 million.

To highlight its importance to us, the US Government declared 2007 the "Year of the Pacific". This encompasses a comprehensive strategy to promote enhanced regional prosperity, good governance, and cooperation. We instituted regular high-level meetings between senior US and Pacific leaders, including at the United Nations General Assembly and my own participation in the annual Pacific Islands Forma Post Fount Dialogue. In May we collaborated with the East-West Centre to organise 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 US pub¬lic 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 US exchange programmes such as the Humphrey Fellowship.

On environmental issues, the US is working together on a project to assist Pacific Island nations in protecting coastal areas from the effects of climate change and natural disasters. We are pro¬viding 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 salinisation. To strengthen cooperation even more, the State Department will dispatch a staff member to the Secretariat for four months.

Regarding public health concerns, the US will organise a Summit on Diabetes Pre¬vention in the Pacific in 2008 in cooperation with regional organisations. The US is in¬creasing funding for basic health services in the Marsh¬all Islands and Micronesia by approximately $1.2 million to a total of $25.82 million. It is increasing funding for HIV-Aids programmes in Papua New Guinea by $500,000 to $2 million.

Economic development is the key to the future. We organised two workshops in the Pacific on the Generalised System of Preferences and Freely Associated States pro¬grammes to assist exporters in building on the $265 million in exports from the region that entered the US market in 2406, including $58 million that came in duty-free under the programmes. In addition, the US made available to Pacific Island countries individually tail¬ored consultations with US trade officials to maximise their benefits from trade. The US is exploring other ways to strengthen commercial ties and develop trade capacity tools for the Pacific preference programmes.

To ensure that the Pacific region's financial system is not vulnerable to abuse by narco-traffickers, organised crime and the financing of terrorism, the US has established the Pacific Islands Anti-Money Laundering Program (Palp), a four-year, $6 million programme, headquartered at the Pacific Islands Forum. The Palp, now in its second year, develops comprehensive anti-money laundering programmes, including efforts to counter terrorist financing.

The relocation of US forces from Okinawa to Guam is expected to promote economic development in the Pacific region. The Guam relocation is a multi-year, multibillion-dollar undertaking — probably the largest US military construction project since World War II. The US wants 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, the US is 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, the US 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 the 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 US has sought to harmonise 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’’ signalled our commitment to work together with you, our neighbours, to build a common future.

That is our promise.