The Samoan Government is generally conservative and pro-Western, with a strong interest in regional political and economic issues.
Samoa participated in a first round of negotiations with its Pacific Island neighbors for a regional trade agreement in August 2000.
[27][28] The Samoan Government was an outspoken critic of the French decision to resume nuclear weapons testing in the South Pacific Ocean in 1995.
Under the terms of the treaty, Samoa can request that New Zealand act as a channel of communication to governments and international organizations outside the immediate area of the Pacific islands.
[40] Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi has pushed through a variety of legislation to increase links between Samoa and the Pacific regional powers of Australia and New Zealand.
Under his leadership the country switched to driving on the left, decided to shift westwards across the International Date Line and adopted daylight saving time, and proposed the introduction of a common Pacific currency.
[41] In late 2011, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi initiated a meeting of Polynesian leaders which led, in November, to the formal launching of the Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language, education, responses to climate change, and trade and investment.