The Minister for Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta will be in Washington DC to meet United States President Joe Biden in the coming days.
Mahuta will be attending a Pacific Leaders Summit in Washington, alongside other leaders from our region.
It comes a year after the Biden administration vowed to commit more resources to the Indo-Pacific as China seeks to boost economic, military and police links with Pacific Island nations hungry for foreign investment.
The group, dubbed Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP), seeks to support Pacific regionalism and strengthen economic ties between the Pacific Islands and the rest of the world.
While Chinese investment is likely to be on the agenda, Mahuta told Newshub at the United Nations in New York, the most pressing issue is the effects of climate change.
"It's important for the Pacific that there is a high level of assistance and help to respond to those climate challenges in the region - it is 'the' existential threat."
It comes a year after former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern met with Biden at the White House in June last year.
Newshub/Reuters
