France Pledges Aid to French Polynesia

President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday pledged nearly $2 billion to compensate French Polynesia for lost military investment after France ended its controversial nuclear tests in the South Pacific, an official said.

After meeting with Chirac, Gaston Flosse, president of French Polynesia’s territorial assembly, said Chirac had promised $193 million a year over 10 years. France on Monday announced an end to nuclear testing after six underground blasts at the Mururoa and Fangataufa atolls.

“[We] must turn toward the development of our own resources,” Flosse said, pointing to tourism, cultivated pearls, fisheries and flower exports.

In 1994, French government expenditure in French Polynesia was about $1.3 billion, dwarfing tourism’s $180 million in receipts.