The administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Mark Malloch-Brown, says the emphasis on corruption as the Pacific's main problem is wrong and counter-productive.
Mr Mallach-Brown, who is in Auckland for the Forum, says corruption is a problem that needs to be resolved which he says can be achieved by cleaning up public services, paying staff well and creating an ethic of honesty in government.
"John Howard is pointing to real problems, that they shouldn't be problems which either overwhelm the rest of the picture and detract from both the differentiation within the region in terms of performance on this issue but also the tremendous successes of the region in different ways. But the other issue is nor can it become this bar raised artificially high for good governance which countries can't jump over."
