From September 30 to October 5, Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman will lead a United States government delegation to the Pacific, traveling to Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and Fiji. The delegation will include National Security Council Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Development Paula Tufro, Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior Carmen Cantor (Palau only), Deputy Under Secretary of the Department of Commerce for International Trade Diane Farrell, Chief of Staff of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Jane Rhee, and Indo-Pacific Regional Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency Verinda Fike.
As head of the delegation, Deputy Administrator Coleman will reinforce the United States' commitment to the region and demonstrate how the U.S. continues to listen, partner, and deliver on Pacific priorities, including promoting inclusive economic growth and responding to the acute threat posed by climate change. The delegation will meet with local and national government officials, civil society leaders, American and local businesses, students, universities, and women entrepreneurs to demonstrate a whole-of-government approach to strengthening economic security and resilience in the region.
This trip will advance high-level U.S. government engagement with Pacific Island countries and follows on the heels of the August 2024 PIF Leaders Meeting in Tonga, the region's premier annual political and leadership gathering. This trip also builds on Administrator Samantha Power's 2023 trip to open USAID's Pacific Islands Mission in Fiji and the Country Representative Office in PNG, and on the U.S.-PIF Summit in 2022, where President Biden released the Pacific Partnership Strategy - the first and only regional strategy under the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
