Australia and Vanuatu have agreed for a ten -year deal, aimed at strengthening security and economic relations, priced at $ 500m ($ 328m; £ 241m).
The so -called failure agreement – the result of the months of the talks – Australia will change relations with their Pacific neighbor, the leaders of the two countries said on Wednesday.
“We are family,” Australia Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marls said: “Our future is very bound simultaneously”. Vanuatu leader Jotm Napat described the deal as a “win-win situation” for both nations.
The deal comes to officially signed in September, as Australia tries to increase its impact in the region, to combat China’s growing expenses and power.
While the Australian government did not give any further details of the deal, in the report of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), it will provide funds for the construction of two big data centers in the capital, Port Villa and Vanuatu’s largest island, Santo.
Millions of people will also be inserted in helping the effects of climate change, as well as helping a low-folding island to build their safety.
In the earlier stages of the talks, a visa-free journey was also discussed for the citizens of Vanuatu and considered an important part of the deal. However, Nepat told the media on Wednesday that the issue would be included in the “Assistant” agreement, yet it should not be confirmed.
It is not clear whether, if any, commitments Vanutu has given Australia as part of the deal.
According to ABC, Vanuatu’s previous Prime Minister signed a similar compromise in 2022 after pulling out security concerns at the last minute.
In a press conference on the banks of a volcano on Tanna Island, one of the 80 plus in the Vanuatu Islands, Marles emphasized the “shared fate” of the two countries.
,[The deal] Admisses that as neighbors, we have a shared security environment and a commitment to each other, “he said.
Australia’s Foreign Minister said the deal was about the long -term future.
“The most important thing [about the deal] Where will we be [in] Three and five and ten years, “Penny Wong said.
Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Napat said the agreement “will bring a lot of great benefits between the two countries, whether it is a safety agreement, with some specific attention to economic change, mobile labor mobility and financial assistance”.
After this week’s Vanuatu deal, Australia signed a similar agreement with many other Pacific neighbors in recent months.
Canberra launched a new $ 190M security deal with the Solomon Islands last December, with similar agreements with Tuvalu and Papua New Guinea.
