Statement by NSC Spokesperson Emily Horne on National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese’s Small and Less Populous Island Economies (SALPIE) Initiative Launch Event

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese co-hosted a virtual event today with Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives from island countries and territories in the Caribbean, North Atlantic, and Pacific regions. They discussed how pandemic-related economic disruptions and the climate crisis have caused an unprecedented crisis for import and tourism-dependent island economies, and they underscored the Biden Administration’s goal of strengthening our relationships with allies and partners across the board, including smaller countries that have not always been at the top of the U.S. diplomatic and economic agenda. Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Deese invited participants to partner with the United States under the Small and Less Populous Island Economies (SALPIE) Initiative, a new economic cooperation framework designed to strengthen U.S. collaboration with these island economies to counter COVID-19 economic challenges, promote economic recovery, respond to the climate crisis, and advance longer-term shared interests.