FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Vanuatu
maintains relations with more than 65 countries, including Russia,
the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and Vietnam. However, only
Australia, the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, and the People's
Republic of China maintain embassies, high commissions, or missions
in Port Vila.
The government's
main concern has been to bolster the economy. In keeping with
its need for financial assistance, Vanuatu has joined the Asian
Development Bank, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund,
and the Agence de Cooperation Culturelle et Technique.
The government
encourages private enterprise, foreign investment, and producer
cooperatives. Like other developing countries, Vanuatu is particularly
interested in enterprises that add value to local primary products
and that provide employment. In less lucrative sectors, the government
sets up its own production companies or enters joint ventures
with foreign investors.
Since 1980, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, and New Zealand have provided the bulk of Vanuatu's development aid. A number of other countries, including Japan, Canada, Germany, and various multilateral organizations, such as the Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific, the UN Development Program, the Asian Development Bank, the European Economic Community, and the Commonwealth Development Corporation also provide developmental aid. The United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Japan also send volunteers. In March 2006 the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year $65.69 million Compact agreement with Vanuatu.
Vanuatu retains strong economic and cultural ties to Australia, New Zealand, and France.
Membership
in International Organizations
Vanuatu is a member of the United Nations and its specialized
and related agencies, including the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund; South Pacific Commission; South Pacific Forum;
Non-Aligned Movement; Commonwealth, Group of 77; and Asian Development
Bank (ADB).
U.S.-VANUATU
RELATIONS
The United States and Vanuatu established diplomatic relations in 1986. Between 1977 and 1987, Vanuatu received just under $3 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), including projects focusing on assisting the transition to indigenous plantation management. In June 1994, the regional USAID office located in Suva, Fiji, was closed due to U.S. Government budgetary cutbacks. The U.S. military retains training links and conducts ad hoc assistance projects in Vanuatu.
In March 2006 the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year $65.69 million Compact agreement with Vanuatu. The Millennium Challenge Program is expected to increase average income per capita by 15% within five years and directly impact the lives of more than 65,000 of the rural poor in Vanuatu.
Vanuatu identified costly and unreliable transportation infrastructure as a major impediment to economic growth. To overcome this constraint, the Compact consists of up to eleven infrastructure projects—including roads, wharfs, an airstrip and warehouses—that will help poor, rural agricultural producers and providers of tourist related goods and services reduce transportation costs and improve access to transportation services. The Compact also includes institutional strengthening efforts and policy reform initiatives in Vanuatu 's Public Works Department, including: provision of plant and equipment for maintenance; introduction of service performance contracts; establishment of local community maintenance schemes; and introduction of user fees.
The United States also remains a major financial contributor to international and regional organizations that assist Vanuatu, including the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, the UN Fund for Population Activities, and the Asian Development Bank.
In 1989, the United States concluded a Peace Corps agreement with Vanuatu. The Peace Corps has met with a warm welcome there and currently has over 80 volunteers in-country. The United States also provides military training assistance to the police force.
Principal U.S. Embassy Officials
Ambassador--Leslie Rowe (resident in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea)
Deputy Chief of Mission--Tom Weinz
Peace Corps Country Director--Kevin George
Millennium Challenge Country Director--Jeffry Stubbs
The mailing address of the U.S. Embassy in Papua New Guinea is P.O. Box 1492, Port Moresby (tel: 675-321-1455; fax: 675-321-3423). The Embassy maintains a web site dedicated to relations with Vanuatu at http://www.usvpp-vanuatu.org.
