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President Mori to Tonga and Vice President Alik in Guam

Nandi, Fiji (Office of the FSM President): October 15, 2007 - FSM President Emanuel Mori, accompanied by FSM Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Lorin Robert, and Chief of Staff, Sabino Asor, arrived in Fiji on the evening of October 10 from Honolulu, Hawaii, on their way to the Pacific Island Forum in Tonga.

The President's delegation will layover in Fiji for a couple of days to meet up with its Advance Team, Mr. Ricky Cantero of Foreign Affaris and Mr Roger Mori of Resources and Development, before proceeding on to Tongatapu.

The 38^th Pacific Island Forum will be the first opportunity for President Mori to participate as a Pacific Island Head of State and of Government.

Based on the President's briefing by the FSM Fiji Embassy, the tentative agenda for the 38^th Forum will continue to include discussions on such regional issues as Climate Change, Fisheries, Energy, Health and Tourism.

The 38^th Forum will last for about a week with scheduled bi-lateral FSM meetings with allies and friends like Italy, Japan, the US and the People's Republic of China.

While President Mori is enroute to the Tonga Pacific Island Forum, Vice President Alik Alik has been in Guam during the second week of October, heading the FSM Delegation to the US Department of the Interior Business Development Conference.

The Conference has been a program of the DOI to promote business development through government and private sector partnerships within the US Pacific territories and freely associated states. The Conference lasted up to two days.