Reinvigorating the U.S.-Pacific Islands Partnership: U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Roundtable in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Starting under the first Trump Administration, the United States has worked to reprioritize the Pacific Islands region in U.S. foreign policy and advance U.S. strategic objectives by fostering economic growth, expanding infrastructure and connectivity, and bolstering security cooperation.  Under this second Trump Administration, the United States has renewed its commitment to a free and open Pacific Islands region.  Today, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau held a U.S.-Pacific Islands Roundtable meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where he announced that we are reinvigorating our partnership and re-aligning our mutual priorities to deliver on concrete benefits for Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

Boosting Economic Partnership and Advancing Mutual Prosperity

The United States is working with the Pacific Islands to drive economic development and commercial cooperation and looking ahead by safeguarding key economic sectors for the future.

• Millennium Challenge Corporation Programs: The Millennium Challenge Corporation Board of Directors selected Fiji as eligible to develop a compact and approved Tonga to develop a threshold program, which will create new opportunities to strengthen development partnerships that encourage trade over aid and investment over assistance with key partners in the Pacific Islands.
• Digital Connectivity: The United States is working to deliver open, secure, and trusted digital connectivity across the Pacific to increase economic opportunities for Pacific peoples:
  • The East Micronesia Cable (EMC), jointly funded with a combined over $95 million from the United States, Australia, and Japan, will connect over 100,000 people across the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, and Nauru, and is on track for completion in November 2025
  • The United States provided $7.5 million for branching units for the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati to connect to the Central Pacific Connect cable and is contributing $5 million to support the spur for Tuvalu alongside a major contribution from Taiwan. The initiative has now grown to over $100 million in donor supported funding.
  • The United States intends to provide $4.5 million in support of terrestrial infrastructure to build on existing undersea cable investments and expand connectivity.  The State Department intends to fund several regional workshops on technology regulations related to trusted information and communications technology (ICT), including satellite connectivity and broadband connectivity.
• South Pacific Tuna Treaty: The United States has provided $60 million in foreign assistance to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency associated with the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, which allows U.S.-flagged vessels to fish in the exclusive economic zones of 16 Pacific Islands countries, generating hundreds of millions of dollars per year in gross revenue for the U.S. economy. 
• Critical Minerals and Deep Seabed Exploration: The United States is supporting advancement of deep sea science that can be used to inform seabed mineral development and responsible mining activities in the Pacific to secure access to reliable supplies of critical minerals for strategic industries, which will benefit the U.S. industry and the region.
  • Working with Congress, and in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to provide $3.3 million in additional deep sea research support.  NOAA is supporting continued deep sea research in the region, including a 21-day expedition in October 2025 of the affiliate vessel E/V Nautilus to explore previously unsurveyed deep sea priority habitat areas of the Cook Islands.
  • The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, intends to provide $250,000 in technical assistance to the Cook Islands that supports capacity building, facilitates knowledge exchange, and attracts new investment in the seabed minerals sector.
  • The U.S. Department of State is working with Papua New Guinea’s Mineral Resources Authority to undertake joint geoscience survey work that will directly advance the identification of critical mineral resource potential.
• Critical Infrastructure: The United States is delivering on hard infrastructure in the region to drive economic development in partnership with trusted suppliers.
  • Infrastructure Project Acceleration: Working with Congress, the State Department plans to provide $5 million in new funding to the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to support the acceleration of project preparation in key sectors.  USTDA is funding the development of American-led airport infrastructure at the Koror International Airport in Palau and technical assistance to support the deployment of trusted American digital technology to support the Fiji government’s efforts to counter cyber threats and modernize the delivery of digital government services.
  • Dual-Use Infrastructure:  The U.S. Department of War has programmed military construction projects to improve ports and airports in Papua New Guinea, with a focus on Lae and Port Moresby.  These projects support the construction of a warehouse at Lae Port, fencing and flood mitigation at Jackson International Airport in Port Moresby, a fuel storage facility in Port Moresby, a maritime training center, and a small boat facility and small boat jetty at Lombrum Naval Base on Manus Island.
  • Financial Connectivity: The U.S. Department of the Treasury has provided $1.5 million to the World Bank’s Pacific Strengthening Correspondent Banking Relationships Project to support and maintain Pacific Island countries’ connectivity to the U.S. dollar-backed global financial system.
  • Multilateral Investments: The United States is the largest cumulative donor and shareholder of the World Bank, which is providing $110 million towards the remediation of Kiritimati Island airport in Kiribati.
  • Strengthening Response Systems to Disasters: The United States is supporting communities across the Pacific Islands, including in Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau, to prepare for and recover from natural disasters and by building long-term resilience through community-led planning and stronger government response systems.
    • USINDOPACOM’s Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (CFE-DM) has updated its disaster management handbook to mark 50 years of U.S.-Papua New Guinea Relations on September 16.  The handbook builds local crisis response capacity, fosters civil-military relationships, provides a vital tool for U.S.-PNG cooperation during a crisis, strengthens the resilience of Papua New Guinea, and supports our shared vision for a secure and open Indo-Pacific.

Strengthening Security and Force Posture

The United States is working with key Pacific partners to strengthen our bilateral security networks.

• Framework for Strategic Cooperation with Papua New Guinea: The United States and Papua New Guinea signed a multi-sector Framework for Strategic Cooperation outlining priority areas of collaboration between the two countries going forward, including defense, maritime security, law enforcement, critical minerals and infrastructure, economic and commercial issues, and the digital economy.
• Unexploded Ordnance (UXO): The United States maintains programs to address World War II-era UXO in the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, and Solomon Islands.  In May 2025, the United States launched a new UXO program in Papua New Guinea, and the U.S. Department of State has provided an additional $2 million to expand this program to a total of $4.25 million.
• Fiscal Reform Support to Palau: The U.S. Department of State has partnered with the U.S. Department of the Interior to provide $20 million in budget support to the Government of Palau to increase its fiscal stability and resilience to economic coercion.   
• U.S. Coast Guard Cooperation:  The USCG enhances partner nation maritime effectiveness in the Pacific Island region by operationalizing 12 bilateral maritime law enforcement agreements.  Frequently referred to as “Shiprider Agreements,” these agreements extend partner nation capability by extending their authority to conduct law enforcement operations from USCG vessels.
  • For example, in 2024, the USCG conducted two patrols within Papua New Guinea’s exclusive economic zone in support of its national security and to counter Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (IUU-F) operations. During the patrols, USCG cutters, operating under the Papua New Guinea maritime law enforcement agreement, conducted 14 boardings, expanding the country’s maritime domain awareness and preserving security of its resources.
  • The USCG homeported six 154-ft Fast Response Cutters and one 270-ft Medium Endurance Cutter in Oceania in addition to the presence of National Security Cutters, allowing for expanded operations in the region.
• Enhancing Papua New Guinea’s Security Capabilities: The U.S. Department of State is utilizing $11 million in foreign military financing to enhance PNG’s capabilities in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA/DR), maritime security, maritime domain awareness, and military professionalization is underway.
  • In 2025, the Papua New Guinea Defense Force (PNGDF) participated in the multilateral Exercise Talisman Sabre alongside the United States and Australia and hosted its first-ever component outside of Australia.
• Law Enforcement Training for Papua New Guinea: The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) intends to provide a resident advisor from the Department of Homeland Security Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) to support law enforcement development in Papua New Guinea and to enhance police recruitment and retention, consistent with Prime Minister Marape’s law and order agenda.

Health Resilience and Security

The United States is working with the Pacific Islands to prevent and combat disease outbreaks.

• CDC Technical Assistance: CDC continues to provide technical assistance to support vector-borne disease prevention, including dengue fever, through the Pacific Community’s Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network (PPHSN) and the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association (PIHOA).
  • CDC also provided direct technical assistance to Nauru in July 2025 in response to the ongoing dengue outbreak.
• Dengue Early Warning: The U.S. Department of State has supported the Pacific Island Health Officer’s Association (PIHOA) to develop a dengue early warning system that can help the Pacific Islands respond earlier to dengue outbreaks.
• Vector Management: The U.S. Department of State supported the launch of the Pacific Vector Network to coordinate vector management activities across the Pacific Islands, which strengthens the ability across the region to respond to mosquito-borne diseases.
• Global Health Security: The U.S. Department State intends to continue support to strengthen ability to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks in the Pacific.  This includes bilateral support for Fiji and Papua New Guinea as Global Health Security Partners and continuing regional partnership through the Pacific Community (SPC) under a new Strengthening Global Health Security in the Pacific Islands activity launched last September.
• President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR): Long-term PEPFAR investments between 2018-2025 provided $26.95 million to support HIV/AIDS epidemic control by funding technical assistance to the government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and health workers and by introducing innovative care models to improve case identification, treatment linkage, and antiretroviral therapy administration for people living with HIV (PLHIV).  PEPFAR will continue to provide support to PNG for life-saving services to people living with HIV and those at high risk to reduce new HIV infections and deaths.

People-to-People Ties

The United States is committed to increasing people-to-people ties across the Pacific Islands region and working directly with communities to support our shared vision of the region.

• Young Pacific Leaders: The Young Pacific Leaders program intends to host a workshop in October connecting emerging Pacific leaders with U.S. experts to develop tangible solutions to the unique challenges that Pacific Island countries face with maritime security, cybersecurity, and health security.
• Peace Corps: With deep roots and strong local ties, Peace Corps Volunteers continue to work hand in hand with communities across the Pacific, building on a legacy of shared progress and mutual respect.  Volunteers are a vital part of efforts to empower local growth, and the United States remains committed to this enduring relationship and the shared future of the Pacific.