Samoa's Acting Prime Minister Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio has commended the mission by the American warship the USS Jackson which left Samoa a week ago after work in various areas.

The United States Navy ship, USS Jackson, in its week-long mission, delivered aid and provided development assistance to communities across the country.

The vessel had a multinational force of sailors, engineers, medical specialists and musicians. It was part of an annual operation known as the Pacific Partnership – which is an annual humanitarian and outreach program in its eighteenth year running.  

Tuala told Radio New Zealand that the annual mission benefited the country and was in line with Pacific Islands regional agreements.

"I understand the visit by the US lead mission via the USS Jackson is part of an annual deployment of services from the United States Navy Pacific Fleet," he said in an interview. "We acknowledge the support of the US as a key foreign dialogue partner and look forward to continuing to engage the Blue Pacific continent to address Pacific priorities under the principles of Pacific regionalism and in line with the Pacific 2050 Strategy.

"Whether it be in the element of engineering, music, sports or disaster preparedness in whatever field but no doubt through shared responsibility, collaboration and community action it will benefit our nation and communities." 

The U.S. Embassy in Samoa's Chargé d'affaires, Noriko Horiuchi said the U.S. and Samoa relationship was important.

"Relationships with countries should not just be government-to-government, it should also be people-to-people,” she said. "When you see our leaders talking with Pacific Island leaders - that's one way we engage with the Pacific such as through the [Pacific Islands Forum] - but with the Pacific Partnership program, we engage at all levels with the people.

"We are too a Pacific nation and therefore it's important to show the Pacific that we are here and we are here to engage."

The U.S. has increased its presence in the Pacific in the last two years. This was ignited by the China-Solomon Islands security pact which led not only the U.S. but its allies the United Kingdom, India, Japan and Australia to increase aid in the region as well as their presence.

Among the deliveries of the mission was natural disaster preparedness, with experts training local authorities in evacuation and disaster response operations in the event of cyclones and tsunamis. This year's Pacific Partnership program started on 12 September 2023. 

Doctors assisted Samoa's health system in the treatment of patients and engineers consulted and surveyed the country for future development projects through the initiative. Community outreach programs, in the form of beach clean-ups, musical performances, sporting friendlies and school visits, were also delivered.

The US-led multinational operation involved units from Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom.