Vanuatu's Prime Minister Ham Lini is to visit New Zealand this weekend for his first official visit to the country.
Mr Lini arrives on Sunday for a four-day visit which will include talks with his New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark on Monday in Wellington.
Miss Clark describes the visit as a useful opportunity to discuss bilateral and regional issues of shared interest.
The two countries have been working together to develop a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening the relationship and supporting Vanuatu's development goals.
Vanuatu is New Zealand's third-largest bilateral aid partner.
New Zealand currently provides nearly 12 million US dollars to Vanuatu as part of its overseas development assistance programme and this is set to increase in the future.
A feature of Mr Lini's visit will be a meeting with Ni-Vanuatu workers and their New Zealand employer at a site near Hastings.
More than 300 Ni-Vanuatu workers are currently employed in New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer or RSE scheme, mostly in Central Otago and Hawke's Bay.
