France and French Polynesia have signed a deal under which Paris will extend some social welfare payments to the territory.
The President of French Polynesia Edouard Fritch speaks to journalists after a meeting with French Prime Minister at the Hotel Matignon in Paris on June 22, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JACQUES DEMARTHON Photo: AFP or licensors
The agreement provides for another $US14 million this year after the deal to assist the most needy with health care costs expired last year.
The agreement was signed in Paris by the French prime minister Edouard Philippe and the French Polynesian president Edouard Fritch, who was accompanied by several top politicians, including the president of the territorial assembly Gaston Tong Sang.
Mr Philippe has also confirmed that France will contribute $US12 million towards the expected costs of $US60 million to lay cables to connect the Tuamotus and the Marquesas.
Mr Fritch has asked Mr Philippe to build a memorial in Tahiti to recognise the legacy of the French nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific.
He says its construction depends on the French military ceding land for it, which he says it has been reluctant to do.
Mr Fritch has also invited Mr Philippe to visit French Polynesia in early 2019.
