The Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna will co-chair the sixth Pacific Island Leaders Meeting, or PALM, alongside the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in May.
Customarily the chair of the Pacific Islands Forum co-chairs the PALM meeting with the Japanese prime minister.
But with New Zealand the current chair, Mr Puna, who will chair the Forum from August, has been given the opportunity to lead the meeting.
The objective of the 3 yearly summits is for Japan to forge closer ties with its Pacific neighbours, and this year's agenda includes discussions on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
