By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) – New Zealand and the Pacific nation of Kiribati signed a new partnership agreement on Monday, signalling a warming of ties that had cooled last year with New Zealand announcing a review of its development programme there.
In January 2025, the New Zealand government said it was reviewing its development aid programme with Kiribati after the country’s President and Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau cancelled a meeting with New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
At the time, the Kiribati government said the president had been on one of the outer islands so would not be able to meet him.
Kiribati, a Pacific Ocean neighbour of Hawaii with a vast Exclusive Economic Zone of 3.6 million square kilometres (1.4 million square miles) has developed close ties with Beijing in recent years, including hosting Chinese police.
“Our two countries have had significant political-level dialogue over the past six months, and New Zealand is pleased this has culminated in the signing of a Statement of Partnership today,” Peters, who is visiting Kiribati for the first time since 2019, said. He said the relationship was warm and longstanding.
The joint statement lays out four priority areas for the countries including the desire to pursue greater understanding and strategic coordination on respective foreign policy priorities, health, prosperity and peace and security.
The New Zealand government statement said they had also announced a further commitment towards the prevention of non-communicable diseases and support for maternal and child health, support to enable more Kiribati people to work in New Zealand’s seasonal labour programme and increased funding to address water security.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editor Neil Fullick)
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