PALAU ECONOMIC ADVISORY GROUP

Palau Economic Advisory Group

The Palau Economic Advisory Group will soon convene for its initial meeting in Palau during the week of August 22-26, 2022. The mandate for the EAG was included in the Compact Section 432 Review Agreement (CRA) that was signed on 3 September 2010. The relevant US Congressional action to authorize and appropriate funding was delayed until FY2018 when the CRA was fully funded. Palau benefited from stopgap funding during the waiting period, but the convening of the Economic Advisory Group was delayed.

The US and Palau governments have agreed to implement the EAG as fully described in the CRA and specifically in sections 2(d) - 2(g). The five members have been named in time for their first meeting. Excerpts from the CRA are provided below:

"The purpose of the Palau Economic Advisory Group is to contribute to the long-term economic sustainability of Palau by recommending economic, financial, and management reforms. The Advisory Group shall be composed of five (5) members, two (2) of whom shall be designated by the President of Palau and two (2) of whom shall be designated by the Government of the United States, the fifth of whom shall be chosen by the Government of the United States from a list of not fewer than three (3) persons not residents of Palau submitted by the President of Palau.

… The [EAG] shall recommend economic, financial and management reforms and the schedule on which the reforms should be implemented. The [EAG] shall report annually not less than thirty (30) days prior to the annual bi-lateral economic consultations to be held on or about June 1 every year on the Government of Palau's progress in implementing reforms recommended by the [EAG] or other reforms taken by the Government of Palau. The two governments are committed to these annual economic consultations being meaningful, substantive, and comprehensive."

Members look forward to their initial visit to Palau to listen and learn. Given the impressive breadth and depth of the members' combined professional accomplishments, their initial report, expected following a second meeting in the Fall of 2022, is highly anticipated by the two governments. The schedule for the initial year will differ from the CRA mandate, with the anticipated annual bi-lateral economic consultation expected in the late Fall of 2022. The initial year's two meetings will be delayed, but it is anticipated that the 2023 contributions will enable their second report to be timely delivered in advance of a June 2023 bi-lateral annual economic consultation.

As requested by the Palau Government, the U.S. Government through the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, has provided limited funding for a Secretariat to provide administrative support to the Palau Economic Advisory Group. The Graduate School USA is providing that service through the Economic Monitoring and Analysis Program (EconMAP).