(Picture caption: Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti at Rarotonga Hospital in the Cook Islands – the second stop of the New Zealand delegation’s visit to the Pacific.)
A delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters, and Health and Pacific Peoples Minister Hon Dr Shane Reti, visited Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa, with aims to reinforce New Zealand's ties with the Pacific.
The New Zealand contingent, set off on a five-day tour of the Pacific on Waitangi Day.
The visit was an opportunity for New Zealand to continue to strengthen and progress its bilateral cooperation with Tonga, Cook Islands, and Samoa while supporting each country’s respective development goals.
Minister Reti says he is pleased to have undertaken the visit to the Pacific, representing both his portfolios.
“New Zealand has deep and longstanding cultural links with the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, and I am looking forward to reinforcing those, as well as discussing the shared issues our communities face in New Zealand and the Pacific, particularly in health.”
Minister Peters says New Zealand enjoys strong and long-standing relationships with its Pacific partners - especially in Polynesia, where it has close political, economic, and people-to-people ties.
While in Tonga, Minister Peters made the announcement New Zealand will provide $20 million towards an initiative aimed at strengthening severe weather and early warning capabilities in the Pacific region.
The Ministers also attended a special ceremony to officially open a new pharmaceutical and medical facility in Nuku’alofa, built with the help of $2.4 million from New Zealand.
In the Cook Islands, he announced a further $16.5 million was to go towards tackling the impacts of climate change.
During the delegation’s final stop in Samoa, Minister Peters and Samoan Prime Minister Hon Fiamē Naomi Mata'afa signed a renewed Statement of Partnership.
The partnership sets out priority areas for cooperation over the next four years, outlining the intent to work together on issues of mutual interest - such as climate change, human and economic development.
It also reiterates New Zealand's commitment to support Samoa to deliver a successful Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting later this year.
While in Samoa, Ministers Peters and Reti reaffirmed New Zealand’s dedication to working with Polynesian partners to address health priorities and strengthen health systems.
The Ministers announced New Zealand would be committing NZ$30 million over five years for a second phase of the Polynesian Health Corridors (PHC) programme.
The Polynesian Health Corridors (PHC) programme has been a key platform for supporting all Polynesian partners to improve health outcomes and make progress towards their health goals.
Funded through New Zealand’s International Development Cooperation Programme, PHC is delivered by the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s Public Health Agency and supports Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu.
Minister Reti says in Tonga and in the Cook Islands, and now here in Samoa, I have had the opportunity to discuss the impacts of the PHC programme on countries’ health systems and communities, and see first-hand the strong relationships and collaboration the programme facilitates.
“We look forward to the next phase of the programme, which will include a focus on health security, non-communicable diseases – especially mental health and cancer control – and access to essential medicines.”
New Zealand is also providing nearly NZ$3.5 million to Samoa to offer the Bachelor of Health Science qualification at National University of Samoa, and to give scholarships and other support to students enrolled in the programme.
The delegation returned to New Zealand on Saturday, wrapping up a successful visit to the Pacific, where ties were reinforced and further cemented.