By Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

UNITED States Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne will be visiting the US-affiliated Pacific islands, including Palau next month.
According to Vice President Elias Camsek Chin’s website the announcement was made during the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders "Pacific Island Night" at the National Geographic Society’s Explorer’s Hall last Tuesday at the Washington D.C.
Kempthorne was quoted at saying that the visit is to gain a better understanding of the needs and concerns of the Pacific Island countries.
Kempthorne will be traveling to Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas, as well as to the Freely Associated States, which include the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The website said he would be visiting schools, health care clinics, wok place and will be meeting leaders.
Kempthorne also announced that the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs will host the fourth Conference on Business Opportunities in the Islands on Guam on October 8 and 9.
Last year’s conference in Honolulu, Hawaii was attended by the presidents of three Pacific Island countries including Palau, the governors of the US island territories, the governor of Hawaii, and top US military officials as well as hundreds of businesspeople from construction companies, airlines, travel and tourism companies, environmental technology companies, communications technology companies, and many more, according to the website.
The Department of Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is a Cabinet department of the United States government that manages and conserves most federally owned land. These responsibilities are different from other countries' Interior Departments or ministries, which tend to focus on police or security.