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Historic Meeting of Heads of Government

Palikir, POHNPEI (FSM Information Services): May 2001 - In an historic first meeting, Leo A. Falcam - the President of the Federated States of Micronesia, Kessai H. Note - the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Tommy E. Remengesau Jr.- the President of the Republic of Palau, held open meetings in Pohnpei on Friday May 4-5, 2001.

The three Heads of Government discussed the broad issue of working together to improve communication and planning on areas of common interest to their nations and to the region. President Leo A. Falcam, Chairman of the first meeting indicated that the meeting was a trailblazing effort of the three Heads of Government to improve mutual relations and to set the stage for future meetings on issues of mutual interest. According to President Falcam, "this is the first but certainly not the last meeting between the three of us."

In addition to establishing a forum for mutual discussion, the three Presidents discussed a number of concrete issues ranging from the strengthening of the regional maritime surveillance to the extension of the College of Micronesia Land Grant Treaty until September, 2003.

During discussions, the Republic of Palau invited the RMI and the FSM to participate in Palau's effort to join the National Exchange Carrier Association (NECA), an effort it believes will result in reduced long distance charges.

The FSM led a discussion directed at bringing the three nations together to explore available options for connecting to future international fiber-optic cables proposed for the region by international carriers. This effort would complement the current effort of the three States to gain access to a $17 million telecommunications grant from the Japanese Government to establish a stronger Information and Communications Technology.

The three Presidents also discussed more practical issues such as the establishment of mutual extradition treaties with one another to permit the transfer of criminals between the three countries, the improvement and standardization of quarantine regulations to improve trade potentials and the amendment of immigration regulations to facilitate migration between the three nations.

Finally, the three presidents agreed to express their serious concerns to the United States concerning the United State's decision to withdraw its support from the Kyoto Protocol. The Protocol is a first step in combating global-warming.