Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Hon. Jeremiah Manele led government discussions with the visiting Inter-agency delegation from the White House, led by Mr. Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, National Security Council.
The SI-US Inter-Agency High Level Strategic Dialogue was held at the Prime Minister’s Office this morning with participation by various Solomon Islands government Ministries on the current SI-US cooperation and bilateral assistance to Solomon Islands.
The government acknowledged the opening of the United States of America’s Embassy this year in Honiara and await further advice on the appointment of US Head of Mission to Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islands registered with the US delegation its interest to see greater focus is paid on transformative projects, particularly renewable energy infrastructure projects that will drive economic growth and prosperity in our provinces.
Solomon Islands stands ready to work with the United States as it manages its friends and partners in an open and transparent manner.
The government thanked the United States for the ongoing support in UXO clearance and mapping survey.
“We are concerned that the recent seismic activities under water will destabilise sunken vessels and UXO under water increasing risks to the environment. We therefore, seek specialized support to assess the state of the sunken vessels and UXO in the Iron Bottom Sound sea area.
It also seeks the collaborative effort of both Japan and US to remove and address the UXO issue.
On people to people partnership, the Solomon Islands acknowledges with appreciation the confirmation of the deployment of US Navy Hospital Ship Mercy to Solomon Islands to coincide with our hosting of the 2023 Pacific Games from 19 November through to 2 December 2023.
“In our view there is no better demonstration of the Pacific partnership program than a deployment during the Pacific Games when all 24 Pacific countries and territories are in one single location [in Solomon Islands] to support their health and wellbeing.
“We look forward to the arrival of the first planning mission at the end of the month,” the government stated.
The government further reiterates that Solomon Islands remains a close friend of the US and looks forward to strengthening the good relations between the two states.
