Notice2025-16372
Report on the Selection of Eligible Countries for Fiscal Year 2025 (Fiji and Tonga)
Primary source
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Published
August 27, 2025
Issuing agencies
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Abstract
This report is provided in accordance with the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended. The report is set forth in full below.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 164 (Wednesday, August 27, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41843-41844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-16372]
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MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
[MCC FR 25-03]
Report on the Selection of Eligible Countries for Fiscal Year
2025 (Fiji and Tonga)
AGENCY: Millennium Challenge Corporation.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This report is provided in accordance with the Millennium
Challenge Act of 2003, as amended. The report is set forth in full
below.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Report on the Selection of Eligible
Countries for Fiscal Year 2025 (Fiji and Tonga).
Summary
This report is provided in accordance with section 608(d)(1) of the
Millennium Challenge Act of 2003, as amended (the Act) (22 U.S.C.
7707(d)(1)). This is the third such report for fiscal year (FY) 2025,
following the August 2025 MCC Board decisions to select Fiji as
eligible to develop a compact and Tonga to develop a threshold program.
The Act authorizes the provision of assistance under section 605 of
the Act (22 U.S.C. 7704) to countries that enter into compacts with the
United States to support policies and programs that advance the
progress of such countries in achieving lasting economic growth and are
in furtherance of the Act. The Act requires the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) to determine the countries that will be eligible to
receive assistance for the fiscal year, based on their demonstrated
commitment to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in their
people, as well as on the opportunity to invest in shared prosperity.
The Act also requires the submission of reports to appropriate
congressional committees and the publication of notices in the Federal
Register that identify, among other things:
1. The countries that are ``candidate countries'' for assistance
for FY 2025 based on their per-capita income levels and their
eligibility to receive assistance under U.S. law, and countries that
would be candidate countries, but for specified legal prohibitions on
assistance (section 608(a) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 7707(a)));
2. The criteria and methodology that the Board of Directors of MCC
(the Board) used to measure and evaluate the policy performance of the
``candidate countries'' consistent with the requirements of section 607
of the Act in order to determine ``eligible
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countries'' from among the ``candidate countries'' (section 608(b) of
the Act (22 U.S.C. 7707(b))); and
3. The list of countries determined by the Board to be ``eligible
countries'' for FY 2025, with justification for eligibility
determination and selection for compact negotiation, including with
which of the eligible countries the Board will seek to enter into
compacts (section 608(d) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 7707(d))).
This is a report that fulfills the requirements under the third of
the above-described reports by MCC for FY 2025. Two prior reports were
sent to Congress on December 19, 2024 and January 10, 2025. These
reports identify countries determined by the Board to be eligible under
section 607 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 7706) for FY 2025 with which MCC
seeks to enter into compacts under section 609 of the Act (22 U.S.C.
7708), as well as the justification for such decisions. This report
also identifies a country selected by the Board to receive assistance
under MCC's threshold program pursuant to section 616 of the Act (22
U.S.C. 7715).
Eligible Countries
Earlier in FY 2025 the Board selected Albania and Liberia as
eligible countries with which the United States, through MCC, will seek
to enter into Millennium Challenge Compacts pursuant to section 607 of
the Act (22 U.S.C. 7706). Those selections were notified to Congress
previously.
On August 21, 2025, the Board selected Fiji as eligible to develop
a compact.
Criteria
In accordance with the Act and the ``Selection Criteria and
Methodology Report for Fiscal Year 2025'' formally submitted to
Congress on September 20, 2024, selection was based on a country's
overall performance in three broad policy categories: Ruling Justly,
Encouraging Economic Freedom, and Investing in People. The Board
relied, to the fullest extent possible, upon transparent and
independent indicators to assess countries' policy performance and
demonstrated commitment in these three broad policy areas. The Board
compared countries' performance on the indicators relative to their
income-level peers, evaluating them in comparison to the group of
countries with a GNI per capita equal to or less than $2,165, the group
with a GNI per capita between $2,166 and $4,515, or the group with a
GNI per capita between $4,516 and $7,895.
The criteria and methodology used to assess countries, including
the methodology for the annual scorecards, are outlined in the
``Selection Criteria and Methodology Report for Fiscal Year 2025 \1\.''
Scorecards reflecting each country's performance on the indicators are
available on MCC's website at <a href="https://www.mcc.gov/who-we-select/scorecards">https://www.mcc.gov/who-we-select/scorecards</a>.
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\1\ Available at <a href="https://www.mcc.gov/resources/doc/report-selection-criteria-methodology-fy25">https://www.mcc.gov/resources/doc/report-selection-criteria-methodology-fy25</a>.
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Beyond the scorecard, the Board considered additional quantitative
and qualitative supplemental information, including the investment
climate and opportunities to strengthen market fundamentals, countries'
commitment to undertake reforms, the ability to advance U.S.
investments and objectives in the country, the likelihood that MCC
investments will be maintained and deliver long-term results, and the
opportunity to advance shared prosperity.
The Board sees selection decisions as an opportunity to determine
where MCC funds can be most effectively deployed. The Board carefully
considers the appropriate nature of each country partnership on a case-
by-case basis.
This is the first fiscal year in which the Board used its new
authority under the MCC Candidate Country Reform Act to select from the
additional group of countries newly included for consideration for MCC
assistance. The new authority aligns the income threshold for a country
to be an MCC candidate country with the World Bank threshold for
initiating the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
graduation process ($7,895 gross national income per capita for fiscal
year 2025). In considering any new countries in MCC's candidate pool,
the Board continued to apply MCC's statutorily mandated eligibility
criteria and selectivity model.
Country Newly Selected for Compact Assistance
Using the criteria described above, Fiji, a candidate country under
section 606(a) of the Act (22 U.S.C. 7705(a)), was newly selected as
eligible for assistance under section 607 of the Act (22 U.S.C. 7706).
Fiji is invited by MCC to develop a potential compact.
Fiji: The selection of Fiji presents strategic opportunity to
leverage MCC's expertise to advance America First priorities and
demonstrate U.S. commitment to strengthening partnerships in the
Pacific. Not only is Fiji a vital security and economic partner for the
United States, but it also has a promising environment for advancing
private sector growth and U.S. business opportunities, as evidenced by
the country's strong performance on the MCC scorecard. As a regional
hub for transport, business, and workforce development, an MCC program
with Fiji also has the potential to economically benefit a broader set
of Pacific Island countries and to demonstrate constructive U.S.
engagement in the region. In consideration of these factors, MCC's
Board of Directors selected Fiji as eligible to develop a compact.
Country Newly Selected To Receive Threshold Program Assistance
The Board selected Tonga to receive threshold program assistance
for FY 2025.
Tonga: The Government of Tonga has demonstrated a commitment to
undertaking good governance reforms to boost economic growth and
attract private investment, as evidenced by its performance on the MCC
scorecard. Since opening a new embassy in Tonga in 2023, the United
States has worked to strengthen its economic and security cooperation
with this increasingly important maritime partner. In consideration of
these factors, MCC's Board of Directors selected Tonga to develop a
threshold program.
(Authority: 22 U.S.C. 7707(d)(2))
Dated: August 22, 2025.
Brian Finkelstein,
Acting Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-16372 Filed 8-25-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9211-03-P
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