THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	149
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND TOURISM TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO PRODUCE AN INTEGRATED STRATEGIC PLAN FOR REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT BY THE STATE OF HAWAII IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION.

 

 

        WHEREAS, Pacific Island Countries (PICs) have made longstanding efforts to build regional multilateral frameworks and harmonizing United States' policies in the North and South Pacific is critical in their engagement with Melanesian countries while recognizing challenges presented by regional adversaries, particularly China as well as Russia; and

 

        WHEREAS, the East-West Center has engaged in efforts to revitalize the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders' (PICL) annual dialogue, which has historically linked Hawaii, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and American Samoa with the Northern Pacific in a concrete framework; and

 

        WHEREAS, these discussions have included addressing overlapping concerns, such as migration, health care, climate change, gender, and economic development; and

 

        WHEREAS, revitalization of the PICL would augment existing regional multilateral priorities and would continue to reaffirm Hawaii's role as the epicenter for regional engagement; and

 

        WHEREAS, the Post-Forum Dialogue is a useful tool for the United States to link its priorities in the North Pacific with the South Pacific; for example, implementation of the 2017 Women, Peace, and Security Act should be the cornerstone of the United States' efforts as it seeks to promote and protect women as well as other vulnerable populations in the region; and

 

        WHEREAS, consistency with Pacific Island Forum countries, particularly Australia and New Zealand, is important to ensuring that relations in a changing Melanesia particularly with stronger engagements with the Solomon Islands, Bougainville, and Vanuatu are properly navigated; aligning the United States with the central role of Fiji and Papua New Guinea in a regional strategy to counter Chinese encroachment; and working with other organizations such as the Forum Fisheries Agency, Melanesian Spearhead Group, and the Pacific Islands Development Forum as an important part of the integrated architecture linking the North and South Pacific; and

 

        WHEREAS, at the center of this overall strategy to harmonize the United States policy with PICs is its charter membership in the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), which would help undergird the United States' review of how additional resources and assistance would be channeled through the region; and

 

        WHEREAS, the United States should identify additional ways to coordinate assistance through the SPC to Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau, where appropriate, at the Center for Excellence and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii; for example, the Coast Guard has a well-established relationship with the SPC, particularly regarding search and rescue efforts, that could further enhance regional maritime efforts, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has long been a partner to the SPC and a model for civilian agency participation in that body; and

 

        WHEREAS, the United States should focus on identifying better ways to strengthen multilateral engagement and harmonizing its approaches to the North and South Pacific, including by using a constructive response to multilateral engagement to better place the United States to achieve its strategic regional objectives; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to convene a working group that will produce an integrated strategic plan for regional engagement by the State of Hawaii in the Pacific Islands region; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to produce an integrated strategic plan that is designed to achieve the long-term objective of reaffirming Hawaii as the political, economic, environmental, sociological, and technological epicenter for regional engagement in the Pacific Islands region; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group consist of the following members or their designees:

 

        (1)   The President of the Pacific Forum;

 

        (2)   The Executive Director of Papa Ola Lokahi;

 

        (3)   The President of the Hawaii Compacts of Free Association Advocacy Hui;

 

        (4)   The Dean of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies;

 

        (5)   The President of the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii; and

 

        (6)   The Director of the Center for Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Studies at Georgetown University; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor; Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; President of the Pacific Forum; Executive Director of Papa Ola Lokahi; President of the Hawaii COFA Advocacy Hui; Dean of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies; President of the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii; and Director of the Center for Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Studies at Georgetown University.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:  

Regional Engagement; Pacific Island Countries; Strategic Plan; Working Group