Macron to visit Tahiti in late 2019

8:56 am on 6 February 2019

The French president is expected to make an official visit to French Polynesia in the latter part of this year.

French president Emmanuel Macron

French president Emmanuel Macron Photo: AFP

His office said he would be in Tahiti in the last third of 2019.

An advisor on overseas matters, Stanislas Cazelles, said preparations were being made and he would personally make several trips to Tahiti to finalise Mr Macron's visit.

The announcement came after he received a senior French Polynesian delegation led by the president Edouard Fritch.

Mr Fritch is in Paris as the French Senate is about to examine a revision of French Polynesia's autonomy statute.

The French Polynesian government wants the statute to recognise the legacy of France's nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific.

After Mr Macron visited New Caledonia last year, Mr Fritch said the French president would be in Tahiti in either this February or March.