Farmers to benefit from NZ-EU agricultural partnership in Vanuatu

Farmers in Vanuatu are to benefit from a sustainable development partnership between the Pacific island nation, the European Union and New Zealand unveiled Thursday.

"The partnership we have entered into today will see the EU and New Zealand providing support to Vanuatu's agricultural sector, and it is a model for further cooperation between the EU and New Zealand in the region," said New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully.

"Our joint agriculture support to Vanuatu aims to boost productivity and returns producers and agribusinesses. Our initial focus will be on the beef industry, where New Zealand has world leading experience to share with local farmers," McCully, who is in Vanuatu, said in a statement from his office.

"New Zealand and the EU have a strong track record of working together with Pacific governments to deliver development gains," he said.

"Until now, cooperation between the EU and New Zealand in the Pacific has focused on renewable energy, and while this will continue, the agreement entered into today provides a framework for extending our development work into other sectors."

McCully and European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica are visiting Pacific nations for the 2016 New Zealand EU Pacific Partnership Mission. Endit