New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs has rejected an accusation that his officials take a heavy-handed approach to trade negotiations with Pacific Island countries.
The claim comes from Roman Grynberg who, until recently, was the Director of Economic Governance with the Pacific Islands Forum secretariat in Suva.
In a strongly worded opinion piece in the Fiji Times, Dr Grynberg said New Zealand and Australian officials act in the interests of their own countries rather than for the benefit of the Pacific region.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, appreciates it's more difficult for Pacific Island countries to resource expertise.
But he rejects accusations that New Zealand is taking advantage of this.
"I am very careful in terms of the way I interact and I expect the officials in the Ministry to be very careful to show respectful and cooperative attitudes to other members in the Forum and I think that's what we do."
