Interior Provides $5,000,000 for the Trust Fund for the People of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) has provided $5,000,000 in funding to the Republic of the Marshall Islands as provided by Congress for tax and trade economic compensation due to adverse financial and economic impacts under the Compact of Free Association, as amended, Public Law 108-188. The Congress designated that this funding be deposited to the Compact Trust Fund for the People of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).

“We are pleased to provide an additional $5 million to the Compact Trust Fund for the Marshall Islands,” said OIA Director, Chairman of the Compact Trust Funds, and Acting Assistant Secretary Nikolao Pula. “These funds will bolster the Trust Fund corpus and supports the goals under the Compact of Free Association agreement that our two nations share.”

Made available through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, Public Law 116-260, the funds will be deposited to the Compact Trust Fund as required by law and supplements an earlier payment of $5,000,000 authorized by Congress in January 2020 for the same purpose.

As provided for under the Compact of Free Association agreement, the Compact Trust Fund was established to contribute to the economic advancement and long-term budgetary self-reliance of the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands when annual grant assistance under the Compact expires at the end of fiscal year 2023. Bilateral discussions are currently ongoing related to certain expiring provisions of the Compacts of Free Association between the United States and each of the freely associated states.

For more information on the Compact Trust Fund, visit the official website at https://rmicfatf.com/.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, @InsularAffairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, OIA administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Follow and “like” OIA on Facebook and subscribe to the OIA YouTube Channel.

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