New Zealand town Hastings in Hawkes Bay will now be able to help Poutasi in socio-economic projects, education, political understanding, and enable trade opportunities.

This comes after a sister-city relationship was agreed to between the mayor of Hastings, To'osavili Sandra Hazelhurst and the mayor and chiefs of Poutasi on Tuesday.

The current relationship, which was agreed upon 17 years ago between the Hastings and Poutsasi, allows seasonal workers from the village to be recruited every year to work in Hastings.

After being conferred her chiefly title, To'osavili signed the agreement with both the village and the district of Falealili with the much-anticipated opportunities for both the villages and the New Zealand town in the near future.

"Through our sister-city relationship and what we just signed today, is going to make all sorts of opportunities for us as our districts work together in the future," To'osavili said. "The agreement is a sister-city relationship and Hastings has only ever had one in the last 40 years and that is with Guilin City in China.

"And the opportunity now is for us to build a special relationship with the Poutasi family and to be welcomed in the family in the Falealili district is an absolute honour. The opportunity is rare and supporting the village with their aspirations and organic crops and things like honey and cocoa and all sorts of crops.

"We see an exchange between our councils, district and region, and the relationship of the R.S.E. [recognised seasonal employment] which we have been together for 17 years now. It's developing that further and how we take that relationship to the next step where everybody is together so it's a huge honour and very special to be with the Poutasi and the wider district of Falealili."

Asked if this meant more visits to Falealili and Poutasi, To'osavili said "absolutely" and added, "I mean it's such a beautiful place and it's such an honour to be here and the title of To'osavili is a huge honour and I look forward to continuing our relationship which is mainly being from Hastings, Hawkes Bay, but as my first visit to Samoa, it's certainly amazing to see rare opportunities lie together.

"We both grow beautiful things here and in Hastings, we grow the most apples in Aotearoa New Zealand and we're also the second biggest makers of wine and so we have beautiful fertile lands and soil and so does the beautiful village of Poutasi and Falealili."

It was an important moment for both Hastings and Poutasi and Falealili, as it was the first sister-city relationship between the two.

What the agreement means for Falealili is the opportunity to develop better, improve agriculture and make lives better for people in the district through capacity building.

"There are many opportunities through education, exchanges and work programs and all sorts of ways," To'osavili added.

The formal signing of the protocol was done following a visit by a Hastings delegation to Samoa for the Mana Trade Summit 2023.

The Trade Summit is for New Zealand businesses who are looking to form business relationships with Samoa. The summit kicked off on Monday where New Zealand and Samoan businesspeople came together.