Palau Community College (PCC) hosted meetings for the Pacific Islands Forum beginning with the Small Islands Forum on Tuesday, July 29, 2014 and ending with the Post-Forum Dialogue on Friday, August, 01, 2014.  Leaders of the small island states met with key dialogue partners as well as other island nation leaders to discuss regional issues, such as the Framework of the Pacific Regionalism and the Third International Conference of the Small Islands Developing States.  The bilateral meetings were held at the PCC Assembly Hall, the Conference Room of the Tan Siu Lin Library, the PCC Conference Room, Chibokill Building, the PCC Cafeteria, and college classrooms of the Sebus and Smuuch buildings.

The theme for this year’s Pacific Islands Forum is The Ocean: Life & Future which reflects the need for Pacific islands to preserve their largest natural resource.  Currently, island nations such as Palau are taking steps towards the preservation of marine life by creating natural reserve areas and promoting fishing restrictions.  Leaders participating in the forum will discuss the possibility of forming a region-wide commitment to the preservation of the Pacific Ocean and its marine environment.

The Pacific Islands Forum is an annual meeting of sixteen (16) independent and self-governing nations in the Pacific region.  It was founded in 1971 as the South Pacific Forum by the nations of Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Tonga, and Samoa.  In 2000, the forum changed its name to better reflect the geographic location of all its members.  Members of the forum include Australia, Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Over three-hundred dignitaries are participating in this year’s Pacific Islands Forum being hosted in Palau.  The dignitaries include leaders, ministers, government officials, forum observers, forum development partners, and representatives of the Council of Regional Organizations in the Pacific (CROP).  The annual forum meetings are chaired by the head of government of the host country who remains as forum chair until the next meeting.