US Vice President Joe Biden is coming to New Zealand for his first ever visit.
It's a trip Prime Minister John Key says will be fleeting but significant.
He'll have just 24 hours on the ground next week, but they'll cover a range of important issues.
"The United States has been moving towards that pivot into Asia and it's been a big plank of President Obama's foreign policy," says Mr Key.
"They were instrumental in leading the TPP, of which we are a member, and so they have had a much heavier focus and they've been pretty strongly making statements about the South China Sea. So there's a lot of issues in the region."
One of the issues to be discussed will be whether a US naval ship will be sent here to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the New Zealand navy.
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