Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero has announced that Guam would apply for membership in the Pacific Islands Forum.
“The Pacific Islands Forum is seen as the united front for all the Pacific island leaders,” she said during a press conference on Monday. “It’s the forum that is in unity and will strengthen our voice in the Pacific Islands here with the United States.”
Leon Guerrero recently returned from President Joe Biden’s two-day U.S-Pacific Island Country Summit in Washington DC, where she was able to connect with leaders from more than a dozen Pacific island nations. She attended as a part of the U.S delegation to the first-ever such summit, which was held on 28 – 29 September.
Guam was “recognised as a key player in this part of the world,” Leon Guerrero said during a press conference at the Ricardo J. Bordallo Governor’s Complex at Adelup. “We are the epicentre of national security here in Guam. As a result of that, our notoriety and our importance is impacted and is very much acknowledged to the point that in the first session I was actually sitting right next to the secretary of state.”
She noted that included in the 18 PIF members are Australia and New Zealand in addition to smaller island nations. As a U.S territory, being a full member in the PIF would indicate that Guam is on an equal level with the island nations, she said.
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