French Polynesia's president, Gaston Flosse, says his administration has a good record after one year in power, given that it inherited as he puts it a catastrophic situation from his predecessor Oscar Temaru.
He says the previous decade had seen company collapses, the loss of 15,000 jobs and the rise of the unemployment rate from 12 to 27 percent.
Mr Flosse says tourism had a drop in arrivals of more than 40 percent and the black pearl sector saw prices plummet to less than a tenth while fish exports ceased.
He says now ratings agencies have an upbeat view and his administration can again get loans.
Gaston Flosse Photo: RNZ
Mr Flosse deplores the French decision to cut funding, pointing out that the French Polynesians are as French as the Corsicans and the Alsatians.
He is also critical of the European Union, saying French Polynesia fails to get anywhere near the funding that the French Indian Ocean department of La Reunion receives.
As a result, he has advised his backers not to vote in this week's election of the European parliament.
