The New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, says strengthening New Zealand's relations with its Pacific neighbours will be a high priority for his Government at next week's Pacific Islands Forum summit in Vanuatu.
He says the summit's a valuable opportunity for regional counterparts to discuss how they can work together to address the challenges facing the region.
This comes after the sudden scuttling of a meeting of Melanesian leaders in Fiji, for which the military regime blamed New Zealand and Australia.
At last week's hastily called replacement meeting, New Zealand and Australia were criticised by Fiji and other countries for their approach to the region.
Fiji will not be at the Vanuatu summit because it's suspended from the Forum, while Australia's Prime Minister, the current Forum chair, Julia Gillard, will also not be there, because she'll be campaigning for the August the 21st elections.
The Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Dr Derek Sikua, who spent the best part of a week in Fiji last week, will also not be in Vanuatu, again because of election commitments.
