Friday 9th February 2024 – 3pm – NUS
Talofa lava!
Honorable Vaovasamanaia Winston Peters – Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Honorable Dr Shane Reti – Minister of Health & Minister of Pacific Peoples,
Mr Tim van de Molen – Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade,
Distinguished visitors from NZ,
Head of Mission and Members of the NZ High Commission Office in Apia,
Madam Vice Chancellor & NUS Staff,
Ladies & Gentlemen,
Haere mai, Nau mai, to the National University of Samoa.
I am pleased to finally have the opportunity to meet Ministerial colleagues from NZ in your new Government.
Congratulations on your new appointments and mandate.
From the Samoa Education Sector, we are extremely grateful to our development partners, including the Government of New Zealand for the budget support that has enabled our education system to cope during the Covid19 lockdowns, and in particular, the Education Sector funding has enabled the National University of Samoa to mobilise most of its courses online during Covid19 and now most courses are offered on blended mode. As the Minister responsible for the National University of Samoa, I also thank the NZ Government for funding the Bachelor of Health Science programme and I’m happy to report that we launched the programme last week and now have 29 enrolled students in the programme.
In essence, our presence today, not only reflects the close friendly relations between our 2 peoples. It also demonstrate our gratitude to the NZ Government for your continued assistance in our Education Sector.
I wish you well with the remainder of your brief visit to Samoa.
Soifua.
