The junior French minister in charge of overseas territories, Yves Jego, is shortly due to arrive in French Polynesia for a visit focussing on the Marquesas islands.
Mr Jego is scheduled to visit the grave of the painter Paul Gauguin on Hiva Oa.
He is also due to meet the archipelago's mayors at the local airport which has been renamed after the singer Jacques Brel who died there 30 years ago.
His visit comes amid a call by a union on Tahiti for a strike to protest against French plans to cut some pension benefits.
