New Zealand Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, says the world is beginning to understand how crucial stability is in the Pacific.
Winston Peters Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
Mr Peters is travelling to Singapore to attend a regional forum including a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The New Zealand government is set to raise foreign aid by more than $NZ700 million over the next four years, as part of its Pacific reset strategy.
Mr Peters said the government signalled to the world that they needed to address the "new ball game" in the Pacific.
He said his government showed where it stood when it announced its Pacific reset strategy.
"We made it very clear to the Australians, the Japanese, the French and the Americans, the British and the European Union, that it was a new ball game that had to be addressed in the Pacific and the sooner they stepped up on that, the better, because we were going to do that and try to persuade them.
"So I'm very glad to the see that the French and the Americans and the British have all rediscovered the Pacific because for far too long they had not."
