Pacific leaders want more equitable ‘aid for trade’ in the Pacific
Earlier this year, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully announced NZAID’s “sustainable economic growth mandate,” which will align aid policy with trade policy in the Pacific region. Around $240 million is currently spent on Pacific aid but under the government’s plans, a greater share of the funds will be allocated to economic development. But NZAID and the consultants and agencies that it supports are now coming under increasing scrutiny.
“A lot of aid money going to the Pacific is actually spent on NZ organisations to go over and do the work and just treat us as projects,” says Tongan educationalist Timote Vaioleti.
Read this article here
Key quotes from this article:
“The time is right to reforge our relationships in the Pacific as Mäori now have the economic presence or baseline to consider what benefit we can be to others. Seafood is obviously a key sector that Wakatü could help with especially in countries like Tonga and Rarotonga who have little fishing infrastructure.”
“Mäori investment would be more than welcome because they would understand our culture and values of manaaki, aroha and respect for tangata whenua.”
“What we need is a political relationship which will then lead to an economic development relationship which should serve to keep our whakapapa bonds strong.”
Loading...
