US Ambassador, HE Judith Beth Cefkin, looks to further strengthen cooperation with Tonga placing great importance on the issue of climate change, she said during a visit to Nuku‘alofa last week.

Accredited to Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu, the Ambassador presented her credentials to HM King Tupou VI on Wednesday 22 April at the Royal Palace. She also met with Cabinet Ministers and government officials.

"We had good discussions which further enforced the special relationship the U.S. and Tonga enjoy. Our President Barack Obama is a Pacific Islander who was born and raised in Hawaii and attaches great importance to further expanding our relations and cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region and between Tonga and the U.S.," she said.

A key priority was to work closely with the Government of Tonga and its people to combat the impact of climate change.

“Our President needs for us to act with great urgency, otherwise we will be facing a modern day catastrophe and climate change affects the people of Tonga very much,” she said.

The U.S has in place various programs including a Coastal Community Adaption Project through its Agency for International Development that funds projects to help communities better withstand the impact of climate change in the Pacific, including Tonga.

Another strong feature of the US-Tonga cooperation is defence. The Ambassador was accompanied by the U.S Defence Attaché and officials from the Pacific Command who held bilateral discussions with His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

“We will continue our programs for training and exercises with Tonga. We also value the contribution Tonga made to the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan to restore stability in those countries,” she said.

“People to people exchanges between the people of Tonga and the U.S are also important. We are very proud of our Peace Corps, which has operated continuously in Tonga since 1967.”

Prior to this post, Ambassador Cefkin was a State Department Senior Advisor for Burma, with other recent assignments including Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ms Cefkin was a news producer in Denver and Houston prior to entering the Foreign Service.