Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting

The Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting (PALM) is a forum between the government of Japan and leaders in the Pacific Islands region. The Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting was established by Japan in 1997 in order to facilitate and strengthen relations with the leaders of the nations of the Pacific Islands Forum. Since its foundation, PALM has become an important of dialogue between Japan and Pacific Island nations for important issues such as development aid and climate change.

There have been five PALM meetings since the forum's founding - 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009. The first meeting took place in Tokyo in 1997, while the most recent forum met in Hokkaido, Japan in May 2009.

At the meeting of the fourth forum Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM 4) in 2006, Japanese and Pacific leaders adopted the Okinawa Partnership. Under the Okinawa Partnership, Japan agreed to increase its commitment to the development of Pacific Island Forum countries.

The 5th forum of the Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM 5) took place between May 22–23, 2009, in Hokkaido. The meeting was jointly co-chaired by then Prime Minister of Japan Taro Aso and the Premier of Niue Toke Talagi, who was also the chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum at the time.

The 2009 PALM summit was divided into three main or objectives.

Fiji, which is under a military dictatorship, was invited to the 2009 PALM forum. However, Commander Frank Bainimarama, the leader of the 2006 coup, was not invited to the meeting.

The sixth forum of the Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM 6) will take place between May 25–26, 2012.

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