16 November 2001 Media Advisory

Minister to attend Secretariat of the Pacific Community Ministers’ meeting in Noumea

Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Matt Robson will leave New Zealand on Sunday for Noumea, New Caledonia to attend the two-day Secretariat of the Pacific Community Ministers’ meeting.

“The key theme for the conference is human resource development, says Matt Robson.

“Forty percent of New Zealand’s official development assistance has been spent on education and training. The establishment of a new stand alone aid agency, with its own vote, its own top executive and reporting directly to Ministers, means we will have a stronger focus on the Pacific and on basic education.

“The conference provides an important forum in which to discuss the refocusing of New Zealand’s official development assistance directly with Pacific governments and build a stronger partnership approach.

“It is essential that we strike the right balance in the support New Zealand provides to the different levels of education and training in order to meet the needs of our partner countries in the Pacific,” says Matt Robson.

ENDS

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