the honorable minister chen deming and other honorable officials of the government of the people’s republic of china, honorable officials of xiamen city and the fujian province, honorable ministers and heads of delegations of the pacific island countries, members of the respective delegations, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

2. it is indeed a great pleasure for me to extend warm greetings to all of you, on behalf of our leaders and the people of the federated states of micronesia (fsm).  i would like to join others in thanking the honorable chen deming, the minister of commerce, the honorable minister of foreign affairs, and the government of the people’s republic of china for hosting this important event and for inviting us to participate in this forum.

3. ladies and gentlemen, the world is facing the energy crisis and escalating food prices and as small nations, we are caught in between, and we are pulled down by the gravitational forces of these global shocks. as small nations, we are the first to catch the cold because we will simply be forced to swim along the current like dead fish. the energy crisis is threatening to wipe out the little progress that we have made in trade, investment and tourism. ladies and gentlemen, it does not take the wisdom of king solomon to see that we are facing hard times, and the dictates of common sense require us to harness all our energy and skills towards deepening and strengthening our cooperation on trade, investment, and tourism in order to conquer the myriad economic challenges we are facing.  

4. it is in this context and in pursuance of the abovementioned objectives that we renew our full commitment to the objectives of the china-pacific island countries economic development and cooperation guiding framework that was signed in april 2006. we would like to see this framework implemented fully and if possible, adjusted to deepen our economic and development cooperation taking into account the new global challenges that we are facing.

5. furthermore, fsm supports the proposed china-pic wto-compatible trade and development agreement and welcomes any support that the chinese government can offer to the pacific in negotiating a development friendly agreement. it is our firm belief and fervent conviction that if structured properly, such an agreement will play a vital role in promoting trade, investment, and tourism in our islands, with the ultimate objective of promoting sustainable development thereby lifting millions of our people from economic malaise, poverty and underdevelopment.

6. we would also welcome any opportunity to discuss issues pertaining to development funding including the possible reforms that can be made to make the funding facility more accessible to the private sector.

7. another equally important issue that i want to flag is tourism. it is common knowledge that a number of pacific island countries including fsm depend on tourism as a major source of income. to this end, we would like to request the chinese government to provide more technical and financial assistance to put in place tourism-related infrastructure, assist with product development and in marketing the pacific as a good destination for chinese tourists. 

8. last but not least, i would like to express my sincere gratitude on behalf of the fsm government, for all the support that the chinese government has provided to fsm so far. we look forward to a fruitful discussion and deeper cooperation on trade, investment, tourism and development.

thank you.