Whipps and other Pacific island leaders to attend The Pacific Agenda: Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity Summit in Hawaii.
BY SKYLER OBISPO Journal Staff
HONOLULU, Hawaii — Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. will be among several Pacific islands attending the The Pacific Agenda: Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity Summit in Honolulu.
The summit will be held at the East-West Center from Feb. 23 to Feb. 24.
The Pacific Agenda: Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity Summit will be held in Honolulu from Feb. 23 to Feb. 24.
The Office of the President announced Feb. 20 that Whipps will join a “high-level” panel on economic pathways and investment opportunities with heads of state from Tonga, the Cook Islands, and Papua New Guinea.
“The Summit is an opportunity for Palau and our Pacific family to deepen our partnership with the United States and American businesses around a simple idea: the right kind of investment can strengthen our security, our economies, and our way of life at the same time,” Whipps said in a statement. “Palau is moving from a narrow, visitor-dependent economy to one that is more diversified, resilient, and rooted in high-value, low-impact sectors such as sustainable tourism, renewable energy, and the digital economy. We welcome partners who share our commitment to transparency, the rule of law, and high environmental and debt-sustainability standards.”
Guam and the Marshall Islands will be sending a delegation to the summit as well, though the Journal has not yet been able to confirm if the Northern Mariana Islands will make an appearance.
Expected to speak at the summit are high-level decision makers from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the Millennium Challenge Corp., International Trade and Development Administration, and several other private and public sector investors.
Discussions will generally center around engaging with the U.S. government, establishing regional financial institutions, and building partnerships across the public and private sector in industries like healthcare, tourism, telecommunications, and infrastructure development. mbj
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