14 Jul 2011

US plans to co-operate with China on aid to Pacific

12:07 pm on 14 July 2011

The United States is planning to co-operate with China on waste and energy issues facing Pacific Island countries.

The United States Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell toured the region earlier this month and says he was struck by the poor co-ordination of aid by all donors.

Mr Campbell says the largest ever US delegation to the Pacific Islands Forum will bring ideas to the table at September's meeting.

"One of the most important things we can do will be to take collective steps to reduce the dramatic reliance of these islands on extraordinarily expensive fuel that's imported. We will have some specific initiatives that we're working on with China and we hope to be able to roll some of those out in Auckland."

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell