New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said here on Thursday her country would provide financial support to develop initiatives which could reduce the cost of fuel imports for Pacific Island countries.
"All countries have felt the pain of adjusting to higher oil prices, and Pacific island countries have been particularly hard hit. In some of the smaller island nations, recent high oil prices have produced what amounts to a state of emergency," said Clark, who is in Alofi to attend the 39th Pacific Island Forum leaders summit.
She noted that in order to give momentum to a proposal to investigate the bulk petroleum procurement initiative, New Zealand will fund the first meeting of experts within the next few weeks.
"This meeting will consider the benefits of small island states joining together to purchase fuel. Even if such procurement reduced the costs of fuel by five to six percent, many millions of dollars could be saved by small island states each year," Clark added.
The meeting of national experts will take place prior to the Forum Economic Ministers, who are meeting in October, so that recommendations can be available for those ministers to consider.
Source:Xinhua
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