Federated States of Micronesia

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Embassies and consular services for Federated States of Micronesia

Location Service areas
New Zealand Consulate-General, Honolulu, Hawaii Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Palau, United States of America

Our relationship with the Federated States of Micronesia

An island in Micronesia.
Photo credit: Richard Griffiths

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) comprises the four states of Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap and Kosrae, each of which speak distinct Micronesian languages and are culturally distinct. The country spans over 600 islands stretching across the Pacific to the north of Papua New Guinea.

It is an independent nation in Free Association with the United States, which first came into force in 1986. New Zealand and FSM commenced diplomatic relations in 1988. FSM is responsible for its own domestic and foreign policy affairs, while the US retains obligations for defence and security.

New Zealand’s relationship with FSM is based on common interests in Pacific issues such as climate change, sustainable fisheries management, and regional security. We are both members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) agencies such as the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

Development cooperation and sustainability

New Zealand provides bilateral development cooperation funding to FSM as part of our North Pacific development programme. Our programme is mainly focused on economic resilience, fisheries management, climate change, tertiary scholarships, and child and maternal health. For example, we provide funding to FSM’s National Oceanic Resources Management Authority, which includes partnering on capacity support against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and we partner with UNICEF to improve child and maternal health across the North Pacific.  

Some of this work is delivered through the North Pacific Development Fund. The Fund invests primarily in activities that support income and job generation, training, disaster management and community development.

The latest information on our development cooperation activities, including activity details and descriptions, start and end dates, geographic and sectoral focus, expenditure figures, is available at DevData(external link).

People and culture

The Manaaki New Zealand Scholarships Programme(external link) provides tertiary and short-term training scholarships to FSM scholars.

Trade and investment

Given the distance between FSM and New Zealand two-way trade is modest. The latest information about New Zealand's trade profile with FSM is available on the New Zealand Trade Dashboard(external link).

FSM has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) in the world, at 2.8 million square kilometres, and fisheries licencing is the largest source of domestic revenue. US Compact of Free Association funding makes up the largest source of overall revenue.

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