PALM Trade and Investment Promotion Forum

May 2015

On the occasion of the 7th Pacific Island Leaders Meeting (PALM 7), JETRO and the Japan Pacific Islands Association (JAPIA) together hosted the PALM Trade and Investment Promotion Forum (PALM-TRIP), and related event aimed at creating a venue to facilitate direct relations between the leaders of Pacific Island countries and economic circles in Japan. The heads of government of 13 Pacific Island countries were welcomed at the forum.

About 120 people attended the joint opening ceremony which was held for both PALM-TRIP and its sister event Pacific Festa 2015 (hosted by the Pacific Islands Centre [PIC]), including State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Daishiro Yamagiwa and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Kazuyuki Nakane. Taking the podium to give welcoming remarks on behalf of the organizers, JETRO Chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige declared JETRO would continue cooperation with organizations like PIC to contribute to the field of trade and investment, which plays a vital role in strengthening partnership between Japan and the island countries of the Pacific. He said that he also hopes to build a firmer cooperative relationship between both regions as business partners.

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Chairman Ishige and Palau President Remengesau

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Ribbon cutting at opening ceremony

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PALM-TRIP

During the PALM-TRIP forum, which was joined by 15 Japanese companies interested in business partnerships with Pacific Island countries, four of those companies gave presentations from the perspective of disaster prevention and the environment. The Pacific Island leaders were able to ask concrete questions to the Japanese companies about the technologies they presented on and the effects they could bring, making the forum a significant step toward developing economic relations between the two regions.

PALM-TRIP was brought to an end amidst a friendly atmosphere, with a networking reception where the state and company leaders were able to mingle.

The resolve of JETRO and PIC to work together and promote the advancement of trade and investment in the Pacific Islands region was recognized in a joint declaration made by the heads of government, titled “The Fukushima and Iwaki Declaration,” during the closing of the PALM 7 summit.