During the next two days the conference will foster discussion on critical issues for the economic and social development of the FSM including tax system reform, social security, fisheries rehabilitation project, transportation, compact grants, telecommunication and the fiber-optic cable.
Attending the conference are FSM Presiden Emanuel Mori, Vice President Alik Alik, Speaker of the FSM Congress, Isaac Figir, Govs. Robert Weilbacher of Kosrae, Wesley Simina of Chuuk, John Ehsa of Pohnpei, and Sebastian Anefal of Yap.
Also present are members of the national and state cabinets, national and state senators including all four state speakers, members of the diplomatic missions, supporting staff and representatives from the private sector.
The conference unanimously chose Weilbacher to chair the meeting.
In his remarks, Mori joined the governors in welcoming participants for their responsiveness to the call for the third leadership conference.
He acknowledged the importance of the issues on the agenda and stressed that the outcomes of the conference will depend on how the meeting is facilitated.
He also recommended that for future meetings, working committees should be established to hold prior technical discussions on issues on the agenda before the leadership meets.
The working committees would also be in charge of the implementation of the resolution and recommendations of the conference so as to ensure follow-up of resolutions and recommendations.
