Forum summit underway in FSM

Palikir: The 47th Pacific Islands Forum summit begins today in Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. The Forum is a political grouping of 16 independent and self-governing states. The summit is being held under the banner “Small and Far: Challenges for Growth”. The meeting begins with the Smaller Islands States Leaders meeting, while all of the island countries will be represented at Thursday’s meeting of the group of African Caribbean and Pacific group of nations. The summit proper got underway yesterday with the plenary session set for tomorrow and the leaders retreat scheduled for Saturday. Forum members include Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.