Kiribati Islands

French presence

There is a very limited French presence in Kiribati.

Visits

A delegation from the Senate friendship group with the Pacific islands, led by the group’s chair, Catherine Procaccia, visited Kiribati from 19 to 23 September 2018.

The Speaker of the Kiribati House of Assembly, Tangariki Reete, visited Paris from 4 to 8 March 2024 to participate in the Women Speakers Summit, on the sidelines of which she met with Minister of State Chrysoula Zacharopoulou.

The President of the Republic of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau, travelled to Nice in June 2025 to take part in the third United Nations Ocean Conference and sixth Pacific-France Summit. 

The French Ambassador to Kiribati is based in Fiji.

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Kiribati is one of 19 States eligible to receive funds from the Kiwa Initiative, a climate and environmental cooperation programme managed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). Two projects benefiting Kiribati are currently underway.

In the field of science, there are ties between certain French research institutes based in the Pacific (the CRIOBE research centre and the French Research Institute for Development, IRD) and local authorities, in particular for projects to monitor the health of coral reefs.

Other cooperation

France, via the French Armed Forces in French Polynesia (FAPF), conducts missions to protect marine areas, enforce fisheries laws and combat illegal trafficking in the Pacific. In August 2024, a Falcon 200 Gardian aircraft was deployed in the Kiribati exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to monitor fishing activities as part of Operation POLPECHE. In March 2025, two FAFP Falcon 200 Gardian planes took part in Operation Rai Balang with a similar objective.