Auckland, Nov 6 NZPA - A tsunami warning system for Samoa and other Pacific islands may be part of New Zealand's aid package after a tsunami killed 183 people in Samoa five weeks ago.

New Zealand also announced another $4 million in aid to rebuild and promote Samoa at a joint ministerial conference in Auckland today.

New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully told NZPA today the aid would follow New Zealand's earlier $6m contribution for immediate relief as part of a joint aid package with Australia and other contributions. It took the New Zealand aid package to Samoa since the September 29 tsunami to more than $12m.

Mr McCully said today a tsunami warning system was being investigated in New Zealand on his instructions.

Asked if a warning system could give Samoans living near the coast 30 minutes of warning, Mr McCully said: "Certainly enough to be able to get out."

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who also attended the conference at Government House in Auckland, said the estimated cost of restoring the damage to Samoa from the tsunami was 370 million tala ($NZ202m), spread over two or three years.