The meeting was attended by the ministers in charge of trade and representatives of trade ministers of the three member states: John Silk, minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Jackson Ngiraingas, minister of public infrastructure, industries and commerce of the Republic of Palau, and Marion Henry, acting secretary of the Department of Resources and Development of the Federated States of Micronesia.
They agreed to create a road map for the establishment of a permanent secretariat for the MTC.
The permanent secretariat will assist the Freely Associated States to coordinate their trade policies and engagement with their trade partners to maximize the development benefits from international trade.
Ngiraingas said this was a major milestone in the development of the trading relations of the FAS, which reflects the strong bonds and benefits of cooperation among these independent nations.
The MTC was established in 2008 in accordance with the decision of the Micronesian Presidents Summit in 2007.
FSM has been serving as the interim secretariat for the MTC since 2008 following a decision of the ministers, which was endorsed by the FAS leaders.
The MTC also agreed that the permanent secretariat will be based in FSM.
The ministers anticipate that the establishment of a permanent secretariat will have a number of benefits for the FAS.
It will permit the FAS to pool resources and expertise to better address the trade challenges that face the FAS and their people, such as in relation to bio-security and modernization of customs procedures.
MTC trade ministers further observed that there is value in the FAS working together in trade negotiations, including Compact trade issues and the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations or PACER-Plus.
The secretariat will also assist the FAS to engage with their trading partners more effectively by providing a source of high quality analysis and advice.
