New Zealand Foreign Minister McCully to Visit Tonga Featured
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully will visit Tonga on Monday 16 February to meet his counterpart the new Prime Minister of Tonga Hon. Samiuela 'Akilis Pohiva. The purpose of the trip is to meet the new government and to further develop the close ties between the two nations.
Minister McCully quoted in SunLive News said “Tonga is one of our closest neighbours and we enjoy a very strong relationship built around a large Tongan population in New Zealand, development cooperation, and working together at the Pacific Islands Forum,”
“This will be my first visit to Tonga since their election late last year and it is an opportunity to discuss the new government's priorities and how we can support their development objectives.
“Our aid programme in Tonga is currently focused on support for basic education and policing, private sector development, and in particular the development of renewable energy generation,”.
Minister McCully is not new to the Friendly Islands as he visited the country several times on similar purposes in the past. His relationship with the former government was to some extent affected by the controversial MA60 aircraft gifted by the People's Republic of China to Tonga.
