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| FSM President Peter Christian with Assistant Secretary Esther Kia'aina of the Department of Interior and US Ambassador Doria Rosen |
In a courtesy call
held in the morning of Tuesday June 9th, His Excellency Peter M.
Christian, President of the FSM, received Assistant Secretary Esther Kia’aina
of the Department of Interior on the occasion of her first official visit to
the Federated Stated of Micronesia since her appointment to the post of
Assistant Secretary.
The occasion provided an opportunity to affirm
personal and professional acquaintances, and also for exchanges and discussions
on important issues and common interests; specifically, as it relates to the
role of the Department of Interior in Compact management and implementation.
President Christian
confirmed that Assistant Secretary Kia’aina’s visit to the FSM was very timely
given the renewed interest of the country to accelerate progress towards
strengthened and effective infrastructure development. The President expressed
his concern on how much time and effort has been devoted to process, with
little movement in obtaining tangible results.
As was the general and mutual understanding among negotiators of the
Amended Compact, he went further to describe that flexibility and periodic
review was, and still is, the key to successful implementation of the goals and
objectives of the Compact. For the FSM,
the goals and objectives have always been economic improvement, and growth
through infrastructure project development; creating an environment conducive
to employment opportunities, active private sector participation, and improved
public service delivery to FSM citizens. For the US, it was for continued military and
security defense rights over the region.
Last, but not the
least, the President acknowledged and recognized possible FSM contributions to
the reduced pace of implementation. Towards
this end, the President affirmed the need for both parties to work together and
to move forward in the collective and collaborative spirit of a good-faith
partnership that has always been the foundation of the FSM – U.S.
relationship. The President affirmed his
commitment towards this effort.
In response, the
Assistant Secretary conveyed sentiments of appreciation for the welcome to the
FSM, and described the introductory nature of her visit. Among others, she
highlighted some initiatives in current contemplation and implementation by her
office that are aimed towards providing better services to citizens of the FSM
living in the United States. She made
specific reference to medical health services, a “one stop shop” service for
FSM citizens arriving in the U.S., and a concerted effort to revitalize U.S.
Government Inter-Agency cooperation in recognizing, and assisting citizens of
the Freely Associated States (FAS). Assistant
Secretary Kia’aina confirmed her interest to work together, and displayed a
proactive desire to work towards this end.
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