President Mori speaks at Department of Foreign Affairs meeting

In the late morning of May 13, on the occasion of the annual Department Meeting for the FSM Department of Foreign Affairs, President Manny Mori availed himself the opportunity to speak with Secretary Lorin Robert, Ambassadors and members of the foreign missions, as well as other department staff, in the setting of the annual department meeting usually staged at home office.

All the Ambassadors and the Guam and Honolulu based Consul-Generals usually join their home based foreign affairs colleagues during the May session of Congress for the purpose of their department internal meeting as well as to answer to Congress as the incoming fiscal year budget is deliberated on.

At this meeting, President Mori spoke mainly about the need for the department to work toward the creation of a strategic development plan (SDP) that will guide its plans, activities and contributions to the overall direction of the Nation within the next ten years and urged the participants provide some views for or against crafting a new departmental SDP at this time.

In responding, Secretary Robert, with concurrence from his staff, assured the President that the department would seriously explore available ways and means to ensuring that the SDP would be put in place with the involvement of the State Governments and other stakeholders whose aspirations and views also impact the department's overseas activities within the "loosed-federation" context of the FSM.

At the end, there was consensus that the internal meeting will take up further discussions on the need for a new SDP to ensure the department's "marching order" is in line with current burning issues and on-going endeavors (such as tax reform project, 2023 Planning Committee, trade and investment facilitation, etc.) not only to cushion the adverse effects of funding termination under the Compact but more importantly to grow an economy that facilitates sustainability beyond the Compact time frame.

The department will  hold its internal meeting throughout the week.