Last week, Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs Sarah Morgenthau traveled to the Kingdom of Tonga as part of the U.S. delegation to the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting, led by Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.
During the trip, Special Representative Morgenthau joined Deputy Secretary of State Campbell for bilateral meetings with senior government officials from Papua New Guinea, Palau, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, many of whom expressed their eagerness to engage with the U.S. business community. She held separate meetings with ministers from Tonga and Papua New Guinea, as well as with U.S. investors in Tonga, to discuss growing economic and commercial ties in the region. Special Representative Morgenthau witnessed the signing of the Open Skies Air Transportation Agreement between the United States and Fiji by Deputy Secretary of State Campbell and Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji Sitiveni Rabuka.
In her engagements, Special Representative Morgenthau highlighted the growing strength of the U.S. relationship with our Pacific neighbors, exemplified by the opening of new U.S. embassies in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu over the past year. She emphasized the Department's efforts to promote the U.S. private sector as a reliable partner for mutually beneficial commercial deals.
