John Hayes ONZM
Parliamentary Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs

24 October 2013

John Hayes to represent NZ at the PALM Second Ministerial Interim Meeting in Tokyo

Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs John Hayes MP left today for Tokyo to represent New Zealand at the second interim Ministerial Meeting of the Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting (PALM).

The meeting follows on from the PALM 6 Summit that took place in Tokyo last year, where Mr Hayes also represented New Zealand.

“The aim of the meeting is to monitor the implementation of the key outcomes of last year’s PALM meeting”, Mr Hayes said.

“It also provides an important opportunity to strengthen relations between Japan and Forum Island Countries, and offers a chance to engage face to face with Leaders from those countries.

“Japan’s involvement in the Pacific is strong. It is a key regional donor and an important partner to New Zealand in working for Pacific stability, democracy and development,” Hayes said.

Following the meeting Mr Hayes will visit the city of Sendai in the Tōhoku region to observe the disaster reconstruction since the tsunami and earthquake of 2011.

The 7th Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting will take place in 2015.

ENDS

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