Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee will today travel to Samoa to join Pacific Leaders at the 48th annual Pacific Islands Forum, on behalf of Prime Minister Bill English.

“The Forum is an opportunity for Pacific Leaders to make decisions on the most important issues that we face as a region,” Mr Brownlee says.

“As a Pacific nation, New Zealand is committed to working with our closest neighbours where development assistance remains a priority.

“The Pacific is facing a range of regional challenges that no one country can tackle alone.

“The Forum is our opportunity, as a region, to find solutions to those challenges.

“I am looking forward to meeting with Pacific Leaders to discuss important issues from security to trade and from climate change to fisheries management.

“New Zealand and Samoa have a unique relationship based on our Treaty of Friendship, and I am looking forward to attending the Forum under Prime Minister Tuilaepa’s chairmanship,” Mr Brownlee says.

| A Beehive release  ||  September 7,  2017   ||