The People's Republic of China provides both concessional loans and grant assistance to the Cook Islands government. The allocation of funding is negotiated by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration and officials from the People's Republic of China's Embassy in New Zealand.
The Cook Islands shares an ever strengthening friendship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), both as developing countries endeavouring to sustainably grow our economies for the benefit of their people through South-South cooperation. The Governments sign Agreements on Economic and Technical Cooperation which frame grant in kind contributions.
PRC is the second highest contributor to grants available for priority projects of the Cook Islands with pledges in excess of NZD34 million over the past 12 years in grant funds available to the Cook Islands of which the Government and people of the Cook Islands are most grateful.
Infrastructure projects form the majority of those funds infrastructure including the construction of new buildings for the Ministry of Justice, the Cook Islands Police Department, as well as financial assistance towards the hosting the Forum, equipment and machinery to support growth in various sectors including Agriculture and Education.
In May 2013 the balance at of funds was NZD20.3million and porposed process and plans are documented in the 3 year Strategic Plan for China Grant Funds. The objective of the 3 Year Strategy for utilizing the balance of the China Grant Funds is to:
- Set out a list of principles employed by the Cook Islands Government to assist in prioritisingthe use of the grant funds;
- Provide a detailed list of confirmed projects of priority to the Cook Islands Governmentproposed for consideration by the Government of the PRC and possible implementationthrough the use of the grant funds over the course of the 2013/14 – 2015-16 period.
- Provide clarity around responsibilities and lines of communication at different levels of theproject cycle
There is a joint review planned in May 2014.
More information on PRC and development assistance can be found on:
Chinese Agriculture Small Machinery & Materials Project - Agriculture Field Report: Feb 2016
White Paper: China’s foreign aid (2011)