After months of back-and-forth negotiations, the United States and the Marshall Islands on Monday agreed to renew a key strategic pact to extend economic assistance to Oceaniaʻs western region.
The new agreement sets up a fiscal procedure and a trust fund for the Marshall Islands, according to a press release.
The Marshall Islands, along with the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, share a treaty with the U.S. called the Compacts of Free Association. It is an agreement where Micronesians can migrate visa-free to the U.S. and its territories for health care, education and work.
In return, the U.S. can access vast water, land and air space in the surrounding islands.
Renewing COFA agreements is critical as China seeks to strengthen its ties in the Pacific.
The Marshall Islands was the last to reach an agreement with the U.S. due to an outstanding issue relating to lingering health and environmental effects in the islands after the U.S. dropped 67 nuclear bomb tests in the 1940s and 1950s.
Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia reached agreements with the U.S. earlier this year.
Phillip Muller, a chief negotiator of the Marshall Islands, said the most essential part of the agreement was to “combine and repurpose the two trust funds,” about $700 million each. That totals about $1.4 billion.
“The trust fund will be used to meet the challenges and hardship of people in the Marshall Islands who are exposed and suffered under the nuclear testing program,” Muller told HPR.
“The rest will be used to supplement the needs of the Marshall Islands (and) Marshallese people.”
Muller noted that the Marshall Islands will decide its priorities on how to spend the funds.
“The role of the U.S. will be to review and approve — no longer having to need their approval,” he said.
Over the next 20 years, the Marshall Islands will receive about $2.3 billion, plus an additional $700 million. The package, including Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia, is $7.1 billion.
Muller said it was a significant milestone in continuing a relationship between the Marshall Islands and the U.S.
Congress and the Republic of the Marshall Islands Parliament will now need to make the final approval of the COFA agreements.
