WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Biden Administration has announced plans to establish new U.S. Embassies in the tiny Pacific island nations of Kiribati and Tonga.
This will be part of a series of commitments that Vice President Kamala Harris is set to announce while virtually participating in the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting Tuesday to strengthen U.S. partnership with the Pacific Islands.
The United States will commence discussions with Kiribati and Tonga about Washington's interest in establishing U.S. embassies in those countries, the White House said. This will be subject to congressional notification.
The United States is on track to reopen its embassy in Solomon Islands, another Pacific nation.
Tuesday, Harris will announce that the United States is prepared to request from the Congress $60 million per year for the next ten years in connection with a new Economic Assistance Agreement with the Forum Fisheries Agency.
The Biden Administration will appoint the First-Ever U.S. Envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum, and publish the first-ever U.S. strategy on the Pacific Islands.
U.S. Peace Corps volunteers will soon return to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and Vanuatu, and will work with the region to explore program expansion to additional Pacific Island countries.
Harris will announce that USAID is taking steps to re-establish a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Regional Mission for the Pacific in Suva, Fiji.
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