Pacific

New Zealand happy to support Samoa with SIDS conference

09:58 am on 24 April 2014

New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, has asked how else it can help Samoa in its preparations for September's Small Islands Developing States conference.

New Zealand is helping with the building of the largest solar-power array in the Pacific, in the Apia Sports Complex, which will host the United Nations and 3,500 delegates for the conference.

Speaking from Apia, the Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, said the arrays will provide the highest electrical output from a single solar installation in the Pacific.

"When something as big as the UN international conference of the year is being hosted here, of course we want to help and of course we want to provide material support. I had a good meeting with the Prime Minister here and he was very positive about the state of preparations."

Murray McCully travels to Tuvalu today, where he is due to make a declaration to help the remote outer islands of the tiny nation, before moving on to Kiribati for an Anzac Day dawn service at the Second World War Coastwatchers memorial.