Rarotonga, Cook Islands – The Cook Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration (MFAI) hosted visiting Government of Niue Senior Immigration Officer Olive Kapaga recently for a comprehensive study tour, as part of the MFAI’s ongoing collaboration with the Government of Niue and in this instance, on the immigration front, through the Hakili Matagi partnership programme funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business Innovation and Enterprise. The Hakili Matagi program is part of a broader effort between Immigration New Zealand and nine pacific immigration agencies to further strengthen immigration services within the Pacific and participating countries include Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Cook Islands.
The study tour focused on strengthening Niue's immigration capabilities by sharing and learning from the Cook Islands best practices in areas such as legislative reviews, organisational structure and capability development. The tour also provided an opportunity to promote and demonstrate the development and operationalisation of ASYPX, the Cook Islands border management and visa permit processing systems developed and managed by MFAI, with a focus on exploring how it might be utilised by Niue, with some recalibration, to meet Niue’s immigration requirements.
Ms Kapaga spent time with the various divisions within immigration including visa and permits, compliance and border security enhancing her understanding of MFAI policies and procedures through observations and discussions both in office and at the air and seaports. Leadership and capability development was also an area of learning, with one-to-one sessions with the Principal Immigration Officer, Chere Arthur.
The collaboration emphasised the commitment of both countries to strengthening their respective border security and immigration services, and thereby the wider Pacific region.
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