U.S. officials and representatives from the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands are meeting in Honolulu this week.

The U.S. Interior Department says the annual bilateral meetings of the Joint Economic Management Committee and the Joint Economic Management and Financial Accountability Committee will open today and close Friday.

The department says the meetings will evaluate the island nations’ respective progress in such areas as budgetary self-reliance and long-term economic advancement.

The committees were established to strengthen management and accountability of U.S. assistance and to promote the effective use of funding under compacts of free association.