While Pacific Island leaders have identified the need for international partners to improve their engagement with Pacific Island nations and territories, there is still a need to respect “the Pacific Way”, its leaders say.


Heads of government and ministers representing 16 Pacific countries and territories, including Tonga's Prime Minister, Hon. Hu'akavameiliku addressed key regional issues during the 12^th Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL), in Honolulu, Hawaii from 12-14 September, 2022.

Engaging in a series of closed sessions over the course of the conference created space for Pacific leaders to dialogue with non-PICL member countries including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
The East-West Center reports that non-member countries were given the opportunity to comment on the current state of their respective country’s engagements in the region, “followed by frank and open questions and comments from island leaders.”

Critical regional issues discussed included:

1. Climate change impacts, action, and financing
2.  COVID-19 pandemic recovery
3.  Industry diversification
4.  The “2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent” endorsed by Pacific Island Forum leaders
5. United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, and China in the Pacific
6. Nuclear-contaminated Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) treated water disposal
7.  Ongoing nuclear legacies
8. The Pacific Women Leaders Coalition

The conference welcomed side events offered by public sector, non-profit, academic, and other professional organizations featuring the latest innovation and research.

In addition, closed dialogue sessions with international partners, Pacific leaders dialogued with leading experts on industry diversification and contemporary geopolitics in the context of China in the Pacific.

The East-West Center reported that Pacific regionalism has become more prominent throughout regional organizations as a result of the PICL program.

The President of the Federated States of Micronesia and PICL Chair, H.E. David W. Panuelo, spoke on the importance of Pacific leaders coming together through the PICL.

“Yes, we have our own national interests, and possibly differing views and perspectives on important issues, but we have mutually agreed regional interests, and Pacific Regionalism can only happen in a safe space for us to dialogue.”

The 2022 12th Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders, titled Puʻuhonua: The Pacific Way Forward, was organized by the PICL’s Secretariat, the Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP).

It featured a three-day schedule of dialogues, plenary sessions, meetings, and side events, held at the East-West Center.

The Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL) summit, a council of 20 member governments, was founded in 1980 by Hawaiʻi Gov. George Ariyoshi and Fijian Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara as a forum for Pacific Islands leaders—regardless of political status and without formal intergovernmental protocol—to address shared issues, learn from each other’s experiences, and develop common approaches to policy. The summit also provides opportunities for the leaders to dialogue with US officials and experts.