WELLINGTON, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Senior New Zealand and Cook Islands government officials met In New Zealand Thursday to discuss strategies for aid to the tiny South Pacific island nation.
New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully hosted Cook Islands Prime Minster Henry Puna for the second New Zealand-Cook Islands Joint Ministerial Forum.
"Our governments have agreed that the priorities for the New Zealand Aid Programme in the Cook Islands will be tourism and sectors that contribute to sustaining the tourism industry such as education, water and sanitation," McCully said in a statement.
"The development effort will also focus on renewable energy, which will be a hot topic ahead of next month's Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland," he said.
Puna was accompanied by Cook Islands Finance Minister Mark Brown and Tourism, Education and Fisheries Minister Teina Bishop.
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