 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Pacific Day. I'm Ernie Bauer. I'm the senior director and co-chair of the Pacific Partners Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, here in Washington, and it is a great honor for us to be working with the Washington Pacific Committee, which comprises the Washington and New York embassies and missions and representative offices from the Pacific Islands region. Pacific Day is also supported by Fiji Airways, and as you can tell from this beautiful building and the warm hospitality, we owe a great debt of thanks to Ambassador Mike Moore and the Embassy of New Zealand. Thank you for hosting us today. For those of you who are following us live on Twitter, you can follow us on at Pacific Partners DC, hashtag CSIS live, and I understand there are people following us all over the Pacific, which is very nice. It's good to be here and good to be live on the internet and on Twitter. Well I have a special treat for you to start off our day, and that is an introduction of the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, His Excellency Henry Puna. Mr. Puna is the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum. He is the guest of honor and the keynote speaker for Pacific Day today. Under his leadership, the Cook Islands became a founding member of the Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues, including culture, language, education, climate change, trade, and investment. Before entering politics, he was a lawyer, and before we came up here I asked him, sir, how did you get into politics, and he looked at me and he said, it was always going to be so. I think he was educated in Australia as a lawyer and came home, and his forefathers were the founding leaders of the Cook Islands and the leaders for 50 years. So he is a great leader and a great man, and it's just a great pleasure for me to introduce Prime Minister Puna. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Ernie, for those very kind words. Your excellencies, distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen, Kiorana and greetings from the Cook Islands. Perhaps I should have stuck to being a lawyer, but on behalf of the government and the people of the Cook Islands, I'd like to begin with a brief but sincere tribute to the organizing and hosting of this event, Pacific Day, and pay my sentiments of appreciation to those who have undertaken considerable effort to ensure that all the distinguished representatives here today, including my own, have received the warmest of welcomes here in Washington. My special thanks to the Washington Pacific Committee, the support of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Fiji Airways, and above all the government of New Zealand for making my visit possible. We in the Cook Islands may be a long way from this dynamic political center, but I can tell you that we do feel the pulse of its heartbeat in many, many ways. After all, we have a long association of historical ties with the United States of America, both politically and culturally, and we share a genuine interest in preserving and strengthening a relationship built on trust, friendship, and close cooperation. Our islands may seem far removed from the US capital landscape, but we do have a very strong presence in both Washington, DC, and New York, where we work closely with our foreign partners and friends, Australia and New Zealand. To help set the scene, I should mention that the Pacific Islands Forum is the political embodiment of division and aspirations of 14 Pacific Island developing countries, of whom are less developed countries as well as our developed member countries of Australia and New Zealand. Amongst the Pacific Island countries, we have several medium to large developing island economies, and seven small island states with populations of less than 100,000 people. Despite the Pacific being the largest ocean in the world, our islands have a relatively small portion of the world's population and natural resources, and are characterized by their distance from markets and wide geographical spread, a spread that renders us vulnerable to economic shocks and the adverse effects of climate change. However, the tendency to portray the Pacific historically as small islands with little to offer in the way of resources or ideas have never set well with me. I am a believer in utilizing what you have to your advantage. Weaknesses can become strengths, vulnerability can yield power, and presence can be turned into real authority. The Pacific has a uniqueness which has a lot to offer the world, and Pacific Day is the perfect showcase for cultural diversity, a region rich in natural beauty and the wealth of traditions, language, and social uniqueness as voyagers, explorers, and settlers of far flung islands across a vast, vast ocean. In the Pacific, at least in the Cook Islands, once plate is always full. We're well known for being beat eaters, I hope Ambassador Moore I didn't eat too much at lunch today, so it's no surprise that our abundance in food is also replicated with a full plate of issues and concerns in our respective countries as well as the region as a whole. For me, as Chair of the Forum, the past year has been a busy one, a particularly challenging one, so it's fitting that I speak to those challenges in the context of our part of the world and the demands upon it as a result of our expanding policy plate. Undertaking the chairmanship at the Forum Leaders meeting in Rarotonga in August 2012 was a tremendous honor, and our chosen theme captured one of the greatest challenges yet, our own condition, the way we feel about ourselves, and the way we ought to position ourselves in the world. This is additionally complex given that it is an inward looking challenge as much as it also refers to the need to redefine the way we project ourselves outwardly. Playing host to the Forum, I call for a united approach in promoting the Pacific Islands as large ocean island states, an idea that stems from our command and stewardship over a vast oceanscape. Collectively, three times the size of the United States, nearly two times the size of Russia, you can begin to imagine why it's important for us to focus on the ways in which we can redefine ourselves on our own terms. We can stand up and be counted for what we are, and our voice can match the scale of who we are. A united voice is therefore important, but so too is the delivery and the manner in which we want our interests to be received and perceived. After all, the Pacific has often found itself in the center of competing interests as if the vastness of this ocean was a ready and waiting vacuum in which to fill with political purpose and influence. Our engagement with major powers should not be viewed as the subject of competition, but as representative of shared goals of mutual benefit and reciprocity in our relations. Irrespective of our individual status, the Pacific Islands are supportive of a united voice in the international arena, especially in terms of the broader family of small islands developing states. Climate change adaptation measures and an environmental agenda to preserve our way of life, our islands, our ocean, and its resources. I have no doubt that now, more than ever before, Pacific Island engagement in the management of ocean resources, such as migratory fish stocks, investment in marine preservation areas, and biodiversity initiatives, and most recently, the exploration of Pacific Island EEZs to ascertain the potential to benefit from seafloor marine resources increases the urgency for sound management stewardship regimes in our ocean spaces. As the traditional custodians of the Pacific, we have made concerted efforts to ensure that the use, enjoyment, and access of benefits derived from our ocean will be equitable for the present and for the future generations. We are pleased that the United States shares this interest and vision and look forward to implementing strengthened measures in support of ocean conservation and the sustainable management of its resources, as articulated by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Rarotonga last year. These steps are part of an invigorated global interest in oceans, as seen at the Rio Plus 20 meetings, including in the context of the World Bank's new global partnership for oceans. We applauded the important outcomes of Rio Plus 20 for the Pacific and want to continue to work collaboratively with regional organizations and new agencies in respect of these outcomes. Moreover, we fully endorsed the staging of the 2014 SIDS conference in Samoa next year and have called on our development partners and the wider international community to demonstrate their support for the success of the conference and its preparatory processes. As the stewards of a vast sea, our responsibilities have not been taken lightly. For years, we have exercised our sovereign rights over the management of our oceans through treaties like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and cooperative agreements governing the dumping and transshipment of hazardous waste. The submission of continental shelf claims, which underpin our continued interest and exploration into seabed mining, is proceeding in tandem with the establishment of regulatory regimes which promote stronger conservation principles in the preservation of our marine ecosystems. We are building on aspirations to maximize economic returns from our ocean resources, including fisheries and seabed minerals, in accordance with the precautionary approach of Rio Principal 15. A decade ago, the Cook Islands declared its two million square kilometers EEZ as a whale sanctuary and as recently as this year a shark sanctuary. This date came soon after a 2012 declaration to establish a one million square kilometers marine park reserve in the southern half of our territory, as well as the historic signing in Rarotonga, where seven Pacific Island nations formalized eight maritime boundary agreements simultaneously, the first time this has been conducted anywhere in the world. There is no other region on earth where the kinship and close relationships between maritime neighbors has allowed such a collegial and equitable negotiation of sovereign boundaries in a spirit of shared mutual progression and trust. The signing of these eight treaties was a definitive step towards better defining the management frameworks for our ocean areas. For me, it stands as an important message to the world about regional collaboration, unity and the importance of ocean resources to the Pacific Islands. These are initiatives of which the Pacific can be proud. The ocean's resources, particularly our fisheries, are our livelihood. And it's important that we continue to build on the progressive positives in working with our bigger partners like the United States. Cooperation between the Pacific and the U.S. at the highest levels is working for us all. And Pacific leaders have a keen interest in promoting these efforts with the U.S. leadership, your elected representatives and your private sector interests. The multilateral fisheries treaty with the U.S. is presently under a transitional interim agreement, but the spirit of friendship in securing a further treaty period beyond that is being sustained for the long-term benefit of us all. I am pleased to say that as chair of the forum, I am deeply appreciative of the responsiveness and interest of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in playing a key role to promote positive outcomes from our negotiations. While we anticipate substantial benefits from our collaborative efforts in the sustainable management of our ocean resources, we are mindful of the increasingly damaging impacts upon our land and our marine environments as a result of climate change. The adversity of climate change, extreme weather cycling, including cyclones, sea surges, droughts and salinization, coral degradation and acidification is presenting us with our most daunting challenge. The need for adaptation and the security of financing to cope with massive and wide spread loss. We are at the losing end of climate change in more ways than one, and coping with loss is an experience we all share in the Pacific. The United States itself has been engaged in this conversation over climate change for many, many years. We all understand the meaning of disaster, the extremities and patterns of change and the absolute need for resilience in preparedness for what will come and enduring spirit to bounce back from ruin. The global conversation on climate change has been a difficult path both for the Pacific's small islands developing states. The agenda for negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its processes is a crowded one, but one in which the Pacific stands with other small island developing states under the banner of Alliance of Small Island States. We are committed to the work and progress of talks as AOs continue to uphold a priority for action by the global community, and I'm pleased to recognize here this afternoon the Ambassador for Nauru, Ambassador Moses. Good to see you. Just a month ago, the Cook Islands hosted the first in a series of five regional consultations on the Nansen Initiative, a worldwide promotion of a protection agenda for those displaced by natural disasters including climate change. The global discussion on the displacement of people across borders because of this threat to survival is expected to gain momentum over the course of the next two years, but already the prospect of losing one's home and one's country as a result of climate change is near the surface of concerns with a number of Pacific nations. Human mobility in fact has been an increasingly critical factor in the development and economic progress of the Pacific. Population trends are characterized by significant drifts toward urban centers as well as outward migration, severely pressurizing skills capacity as accessibility to resources, the distribution of wealth and the sustainability of infrastructure and governance frameworks. We need to retain our people. Without our greatest asset, the people of the Pacific, greater command over our future will remain at serious risk. Skills building and empowerment will become hollow objectives and the gains we have made across the region to promote and institute principles of good governance and more inclusive systems that advance the status of women as well as youth in our communities will be severely eroded. I am particularly pleased that over the past year, the gains of which I have mentioned have established clear and meaningful steps toward improving gender equality in the Pacific. Last August, the forum leaders endorsed the Pacific Leaders Gender Equality Declaration, recognizing the need to continue to support and encourage concerted efforts to effectively address the entrenched disadvantages that many women face in education, economic development and social advancement and representation at the political level. Much more remains to be done to instill zero tolerance for violence against women and girls in our respective societies, but the steps we have taken now are a tremendous move forward. Last October, I was also privileged to help launch a regional action plan on women, peace and security, a new framework that recognizes the role that women can and do play in conflict resolution and peace processes. We must value these contributions and ensure that the recognition of groups in individual women are part of our search for truth and sustained peace. As further building of our capacity to work collectively and inclusively strengthened, Pacific Leaders are now looking forward to the outcomes of a major review of the Pacific Plan, the region's blueprint and master strategy for cooperation and integration on issues of priority for member states of the forum. This review is our forward looking analysis of how we can unify our efforts to confront the challenges we face as a region. The future relevance and appropriateness of our brand of regionalism is at the heart of this self-examination, which we expect will provide considerable food for thought in the coming months. Among the policy challenges we face in our region are those that impact upon our ability to uphold the four pillars of priority, continued economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security. We have a newly emerging priority in energy security and the need to transform our use and break our dependency on fossil fuels. The Pacific is acting as one in this regard and earlier this year marked the new priority with a leader's summit in Tonga and Auckland to reinforce a collective approach to the development of national security. National strategies and implementation of renewable energy projects. Political will at the highest level is driving this collective vision, both as a necessary foundation and also as an effective tool in attracting the investment and partnerships we need to achieve our ambitious goals. Make no mistake, our renewable energy targets are indeed very ambitious. I would be the first to admit to it. But stepping forward with courage and conviction is a sound beginning and I am pleased to say with a self-determined effort to succeed we have established clear road maps. We have set the policy paths and we have embarked upon firm projects of action. Tokelo, the kingdom of Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia. We are all making gains to cease our dependency on fossil fuels. For my country, the Cook Islands, our target to be 100% driven by renewable energy by 2020 will be the driving economic centipedes of our global promotion as a clean and green destination. Energy partnerships and investment have already begun to yield results in our region. The Pacific plan is helping by providing the development framework in which to prioritise aid assistance to the region. Aid flows through the Pacific and the steady growth of partnerships with major powers such as the People's Republic of China as well as the European Union has stimulated deeper analyses and calls for a greater understanding of aid application and effectiveness. The role of aid and its impact on the Pacific will continue to present complex questions over sustainable development and our ability to meet those challenges on our own. Regionalism and how we want to and should address our needs does provoke a degree of uncertainty, especially in the wake of emerging sub-regional priorities and the accompanying debate over whether we are seeing the erosion of broader cooperative frameworks in the region. My preference is to promote the virtues of sub-regional solidifying as a means of building strength and substance into our broader traditional Pacific way. Rather than undermining our Pacific voice, the motivation to formalise commonality among fewer entities is a natural inclination and a sound step I say towards hardening the building blocks for a higher purpose. That is where we need to focus our sights. The higher goals of embracing all Pacific peoples irrespective of ethnicity or the imperfect fate of governance models which can curb our desire to weave a richer fabric of meaningful ties among our nations. In this regard, I'd like to conclude by making special mention of the Polynesian Leaders Group, a fledgling organisation established in Samoa and advanced in the Cook Islands last year with eight founding members committed to the promotion of cultural traditions, language preservation, and economic and social well-being. American Samoa, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Newway, Samoa, the Kingdom of Tonga, Tokelo, and Tuvalu are those eight members which now want to explore how the reach of Polynesia can be given renewed meaning with the Maori Evie of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and the native Hawaiians in the north of our triangle. Polynesians of course have a deep spiritual link to the ocean, establishing voyaging lanes across the Pacific over many centuries as navigators of the vast sea known to us as the Muon Nui or Kiva. Our respect for the ocean and the life it supports begins here, sharing a rich heritage with the native Hawaiians, the people of Tahiti Nui, and our brothers and sisters in Newway, American and independent Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. As we continue this modern voyage of self-determined goals and aspirations, we are proud to uphold those traditions that are being sustained by renowned navigators like Nainua Thomsen who I am pleased to see here at Pacific Day and to share this occasion with us. Nainua's voice echoes our past for a future purpose, a purposeful voice that not only binds us but asks to be heard. I think we're doing pretty well at perfecting it. But our collective delivery must be genuine, impactful, and perhaps provocative enough to prod the type of responsiveness and dialogue we need to move forward and to move forward together. On that note, thank you very much, Kyorana. Will you take some questions? Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much for your remarks. You talked about a vision of cooperation in the Pacific between the great powers. I assume you were talking about the United States and China. Do you have experiences or models that you've used working with other countries where you've reached out and been able to include China in projects that have been beneficial to the people that cook islands that could be replicated? I think it's true to say right at the beginning that we have had the benefit of a long and friendly relationship with New Zealand and Australia, and that has taught us a lot of things in how to get along. What are the things that I personally did as leader of my political party before the last elections was to have a look and see what the landscape was in terms of our development efforts. And it became clear to me that without being disrespectful to the assistance that we always get from New Zealand and Australia, but it was obvious to me that we needed to build bridges with the People's Republic of China because they were a growing prison in the Pacific. And so I had the, I guess at the time, the courage to include in our manifesto and foreign affairs our commitment to the one China policy. And I can say that that is paying dividends. We had contact as soon as the elections was over and we were forming government from the highest levels of the China government, and we have continued to build on that and nurture it. And I'm pleased to say that there is, that is bearing fruit in many, many ways. In this respect, I must also acknowledge that the role that New Zealand has played in building that relationship with China. We now have in place an agreement to help with our development efforts in the Cook Islands, particularly with our water supply in Rarotonga, which is a huge, huge project involving tens of millions of dollars that involves both China and the government of New Zealand. And I am told that when we signed the agreement, this tripartite agreement at the forum last year, it was the first time anywhere in the world that China had agreed to be part of a tripartite development program. And so I'm proud of that achievement, but we have to get on and make sure that it works and works really well. I think that is the... Sorry? Are we being taped? Sorry about that. Do we have any Chinese friends in the audience? A little too much excitement there. But I think that is the real challenge, to make sure that this historical partnership doesn't work and work very well. Because I see that it may be the basis of a partnership that can be replicated elsewhere in the world. Let me open the floor to questions in the audience. Welcome to take any of those. Well, they think about that. I wanted to ask you about your point on resolution of maritime and territorial disputes or possible disputes in your region. As you look out at some of the tension in the South China Sea and the East Sea between China and some of its neighbors, are there any methods or ideas that you have that you could offer in terms of dispute resolution for the claimants? I think I need to be very, very careful here. One thing that characterizes our relationships among ourselves in the Pacific is our respect and abiding respect for one another. And it was that respect that actually made this possible. And it's something, as I've said in my speech, that we're all very proud of. Because I don't think it can be replicated elsewhere in the world. For the first time, we signed eight maritime boundary agreements. But it didn't just happen overnight. It took place over many years, but the underlying principle was respect for one another and it bore fruit in the end. Mr. Prime Minister, you were very personally involved in hosting a very successful Pacific Islands forum last year. And our Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, attended. Is it important that the Americans participate at that level? And what message can we bring to Washington in terms of its engagement in the Pacific Islands forum? I think it is very important that America continues to maintain presence, not just the token presence, but presence at the highest level possible at these regional meetings. We were privileged to have US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last year. Maybe that was a fluke, but I believe she really enjoyed herself too. But it was a first for the forum and definitely a first for the Cook Islands to be graced with the presence of high-ranking officials from the US, such as Secretary of State. Mr. Prime Minister, I want to thank you very much for kicking off our discussion here at Pacific Day. And I want to thank you and wish you the best on your trip to Washington. Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. It's now my distinct pleasure to introduce our next speaker. He's Ambassador Hersey Kiota. He is Palau's Ambassador to the United States and Dean of the Pacific Diplomatic Corps. Together with the other Pacific Ambassadors and Representatives, he is one of the hosts of today's Pacific Day 2013. Mr. Kiota, Ambassador Kiota, has previously served as a legal researcher and then Chief Clerk in the Palau House of Delegates and is Director of the House Legal Counsel's Office. He was a Senator in the Palau National Congress from 1990 to 1996, and he's a man who knows his way around both New York and Washington. Ambassador, please join me here. Thank you, Ernest. Good evening, Inno. It's very, very difficult to follow such a good speaker, the Honorable Prime Minister. This afternoon I'm going to speak about the Micronesia Challenge, which is a conservation initiative by the island countries and territories of Micronesia region. I know there are experts in conservation and climate change and environment here who can speak better than I am, so please bear with me because I'm not an expert in environment nor conservation. I know we have to conserve, but I'm not an expert. Sometimes conservation and environment are becoming more and more synonymous with one another. In Palau and the Micronesia, the importance of conservation of our environment and its resources cannot be over-emphasized. My President, Tommy Irmung South Junior, often relates environment as our bread and butter, and as such we must preserve it for not only the generations to come for the continuous economic well-being of our islands. When he first ran, this is President Irmung South, when he first ran for office of the President, he coined the term preserve the best and improve the rest, which caught momentum and becomes synonymous with Tommy Irmung South. This phrase, I believe, gave rise to the idea and vision of Micronesia Challenge. Often called one of the seven underwater wonders of the world, Palau is home to 400 coral species and nearly 1,300 varieties of reef fish. Its waters breathtaking marine diversity and beauty are famous, attracting many of its attracting to its reefs and lagoons. It wasn't long ago that local fishermen, including my President, Tommy Irmung South, and of course myself, noticed that there were more boats and people than Bayakudas, Napoleon Ras, and other fish. They determined to do something about the decline. President Irmung South and the leaders of Micronesia Lounge, the Micronesia Challenge in 2006 at the 8th conference of the parties of the UN Convention of Biological and Diversity. The Micronesia Challenge is a commitment of the five government of Micronesia, composed of Palau, Federal State of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, as well as the U.S. territory of Guam and U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, to effectively conserve at least 30 percent of the near shore marine resources and 20 percent of the terrestrial resources across Micronesia by year 2020. Conservation is not a new concept to Palau and the Micronesian region. It had always been practiced throughout the islands for centuries. And so the idea of conservation as envisioned in the Micronesia Challenge was a natural response to the decline of our marine and terrestrial resources and was well received by our people. In fact, the challenge and the establishment of the designation of protected area networks are based on traditional and cultural practices. The Micronesia Challenge spent nearly 6.7 million square kilometers of ocean nearly the size of the United States and supports livelihoods of more than 650,000 people and cultures of more than 4,000 years old. The Micronesia Challenge protects 66 threatened species of the UICN red list, more than 480 coral species, more than 1,300 reef fish, more than 85 bird species and about 1,400 plant species. The Micronesia Challenge is built on a long history and tradition of stewardship as well as more recent effort by local level government and GO and community to raise awareness, strengthen capacity and implement conservation activities in their home islands but also resulted from the realization that Micronesians must work together at the original level to confront global threats such as climate change. The Micronesia Challenge is about protecting the Palawan way of life. It helps to preserve our culture and establish natural resources against the unpredictability of economic growth, tourism and climate change as well as actively acknowledging that this environment we inherit is on loan from our future generation. In Palau we live to say the environment, we like to say the environment is our economy and the economy is our environment. You cannot say separate the two. If our environment goes so will number one industry tourist. If the environment goes so goes our livelihood, our culture, our identity, our island people. In Palau it's not all about business and commercialism and development. It is also about the sustainability of our very own people. We need to take steps out of the norm. We need to think outside the box as they say to do something that will indeed ensure that the environment our number one asset is there for the future. I remember as a young boy growing up and fishing with the village elders in Palau, I was overwhelmed by so much fish and was so eager to take them all home. The village elders would always remind us to conserve and just take what we need for tomorrow is yet to come. Always conserve for the future was the message the elders always reminded us. It never occurred to me then that someday we will be faced with fish and other marine resources decline and even depletion. Palauans were faced with two questions. Who owns our environment? How can we sustain ourselves by exploiting the environment in a good sense? The Micronesia Challenge was an obvious answer. It is a plan for a sustainable future that brings together numerous conservation projects and partnership working toward the same vision. The Micronesia Challenge has made considerable progress since it was launched. It has strengthened and established over 190 protected and managed areas over more than 680,000 hectares. It has mentored over 25 young Micronesian champions preparing our leaders of tomorrow. It has finalized and initiated monitoring of our regional marine indicators and in the process of testing six regional terrestrial indicators and ten regional socio economic indicators. It has adopted marine protected area management effective, simply called SPAN, tools for assessing management effectiveness. It has approved the Micronesia Regional Database procedure. The tools being developed and got contributing to advancing protected area management in Palau and internationally. The climate change adaptation toolkit for island communities developed by Micronesia Challenge partnership is now being adopted for the Coral Triangle Initiative by USAID. It has also been employed by the University of South Pacific with funding from the European Union Climate Change Project for development across 14 Pacific Island countries. It is a leading tool in climate change curriculum from grade K to 12 for the Pacific schools. By working together we are making great strides to putting in place the sustainable financing mechanism that are so critical to achieving our conservation goal. In 2002 we established the Micronesian Conservation Trust a regional trust fund with an endowment target of $58 million. The interest and earn from the endowment will be able to fund establishment and management of MPA activities into perpetuity. Thus far we have leveraged over secured $12 million including contributions of $1.5 million per year generated from the Palau green fees. The Palau green fee is a departure tax of $30 charged to tourist existing Palau. But if you want to visit Palau and not get away from paying that tell them that you know me. They might give you a discount. Given the regional nature of Micronesia Challenge it has provided an opportunity to pull in kind resources and attract larger grant from varieties of sources such as midsize grant from the global environment facility of $6 million. That leverages a two to one match from three countries who are conservation and biodiversity sustainability of the nature conservation and conservation international as well as leverage operational fund securing over $20 million to date. Put in place a regional sustainable financial plan as well as fund raising strategy endorsed by Chief Executive Micronesian Chief Executives. Secure funding from Australian AID and the Nature Conservancy for the development of the Palau Green Fee Challenge business plan expected to be launched during this year's Pacific Island Forum in September 2013. We are getting the world out. We are getting the world out about the action we are taking to protect our region. We are distributing over 20 over we are distributing our newspapers to people monthly. We have launched the one Micronesia campaign to raise ourness locally and internationally including an inventory of community events created to possible Micronesian Challenge partnership and sponsorship. We are also working with rare on the RAE on a region wide campaign to create ourness locally of the importance of our natural environment. Originally inspired by a similar commitment in Fiji, the Micronesia Challenge has since inspired further commitments in the region such as Micronesia Shark Sanctuary, the world's largest shark sanctuary. It has also inspired leaders from island countries globally toward greater conservation and livelihoods targets including the Caribbean Challenge initiative and the developing Indian Ocean Coastal Challenge. Hawaii is also leading the way in advancing more sustainable, resilient and prosperous future through the Hawaiian Green Growth Initiative. Island countries and countries with islands are working together to make the bold commitment to action that are necessary to save our biodiversity, our livelihoods and our planet. I invite you to join us in taking action to conserve our islands, our oceans and our planets for future generations. Please come in to take action now. Demonstrate your leadership by helping us to achieve the goals of the Micronesia Challenge by donating funds today or ideas that would help us conserve our islands. Invest in what works, invest in the bright spot emerging from the islands that can be scaled and replicated. If you are interested in donating funds or get involved with the work of Micronesia Challenge, please talk to me or Kate Brown afterwards. We will be more than happy to assist. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ambassador. We're going to take a short break. Stretch your legs. There's some Fiji water near or under your seats. For those of you that are in the back, I encourage you to come forward. We're going to set up the stage and we've got a great panel for you. And after that, we have what you've all been waiting for, the Pacific Island or the Pacific night reception, which is probably one of the best in Washington. So let's take a break. Rest your legs and we'll be back in about five minutes. Thank you.