The trade office of the Pacific Islands Forum, based in New Zealand, has appointed a new Trade Commissioner.
Michael Greenslade, formerly the Pacific Trade Commissioner for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, will take up the role later this month.
Mr Greenslade has been heavily involved in Pacific trade issues for many years and has worked in Suva, where the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is based.
He is seen as a strategic appointment, due to his links to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - which provides the office's funding.
The Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, suspended funding for the office temporarily last year over tension with the Fiji-based secretariat.
The Forum's outgoing secretary general, Tuiloma Neroni Slade, has recently backed the "immense value" of the Pacific Trade and Invest initiative but said current work on trade and investment promotion needs to be intensified.
