18 Feb 2016

NZ signs Fiji aid deal

4:02 pm on 18 February 2016
New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully and his Fiji counterpart Ratu Inoke Kubuabola.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully and his Fiji counterpart Ratu Inoke Kubuabola. Photo: Fiji Ministry of Information

Fiji's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, and his New Zealand counterpart, Murray McCully, have signed a multi year aid agreemeent.

The Fiji government reports a Development Cooperation Arrangement through to 2019 will cover agriculture, skills training and capacity building.

The aid is worth US$21.8 million dollars.

New Zealand has agreed to extend the scholarship programme with 20 spaces being offered to Fijian students this year - double that of the last two years.

Both countries have also agreed to enhance existing defence cooperation and to revive assistance programmes that had benefited Fijians in the past.