The New Zealand government will commit ongoing funding of 3 million NZ dollars (about 1.83 millionUS dollars) annually to a special fund for strengthening security in the Pacific, Prime Minister Helen Clark has announced.

According to a government statement Tuesday, Clark made the announcement at the Pacific Counter-Terrorism Round Table meeting opened Monday in Wellington, which was participated by senior policy-makers from the Pacific Islands Forum countries and observers from other regional partners and international organizations.

Clark said New Zealand government's Pacific Security Fund provided advice, training and technical assistance to Pacific Islands countries on security issues.

In its first year, the fund has supported projects in aviation security, port and shipping security, customs processes, immigration, counter-terrorism, and legislative drafting.

The fund is working well, and I am pleased to announce that it will receive ongoing government funding of 3 million NZ dollars per year to continue and extend its programs, Clark said.

The Pacific Security Fund is a funding pool for New Zealand government agencies to draw on to help Pacific countries cover security gaps.

The fund is designed for one-off or contingency activities in the Pacific, such as training and technical support, which address the external threats posed to Pacific Island countries and the risks to New Zealand arising from them.

The projects currently being funded include: six x-ray machines for scanning carry-on luggage at airports in Tonga, the Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Niue; training officials from Pacific countries on the new International Ship and Port Facility Code, covering security at port facilities; training officials on new United States requirements on container shipping security; programs to educate Pacific Island travelers on bio-security requirements; and helping Pacific Island officials with drafting requirements for their own counter-terrorism legislation.

Source: Xinhua