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Vice President Alik heads FSM delegation to the 2012 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group in Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan (FSM Embassy in Tokyo): October 15, 2012 - Heading FSM delegation, Vice President Alik L. Alik arrived in Japan on October 9, 2012 to attend the 2012 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group to be held on October 10-14, 2012 in Tokyo.

The IMF-World Bank Group annual meeting's program is designed to bring together financial leaders, policy makers and top thinkers to discuss economic and development challenges facing the world today. The interactive sessions have been organized with special emphasis on the global economy, jobs and competitiveness, the euro area, growth in Asia, global health, low-income issues, inclusive growth, and sovereign risk. More than 10,000 participants are expected to attend the meeting.

On the sidelines of the annual meetings, the Vice President held bilateral meetings with the Executive Director of IMF for Asia and Pacific and the Executive Director for the World Bank. During these meetings, Vice President took the opportunity to reiterate　FSM's appreciation for the assistances and cooperation that both institutions have extended to the FSM over the years. He went further by seeking technical and financial assistance on projects including the fiber optic cable, tax reform, and climate change, and assured them that FSM will continue to collaborate with them at the regional and bilateral level.

Vice President also took the opportunity to brief them on the current situation in FSM and the upcoming Leadership Summit to be held back to back with the Donor Countries meeting in the early part of November this year, which both institutions are invited to take part.

Vice President's delegation is comprised of Acting Secretary of Finance, Rose Nakanaga (FSM Governor to IMF and World Bank), Secretary of Transportation, Communication and Infrastructure, Francis Itimai, International Finance Coordinator (Alternate Governor), Senny Phillip, and FSM Ambassador to Japan, John Fritz.