PM, Key Meet For First Time Since 2006

The meeting is understood to be the first between Mr Bainimarama and Mr Key after the 2006 coup resulted in ties being severed by the New Zealand Government under former PM Helen Clark.

Those remained in place until elections past year in which Mr Bainimarama was elected Prime Minister.

“He’s invited me to Fiji, I’ve invited him to New Zealand”.

The two prime ministers were expected to have discussed bilateral relations, regional issues and possibly Mr Key making a trip to Fiji.

According to Minister for Foreign Affairs Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, our PM extended an invitation for Mr Key to visit Fiji, most likely by the end of this year, followed by a reciprocal visit to New Zealand in early 2016.

Bainimarama highlighted that the relations between the two countries have grown from strength to strength and this is evident after the signing of a number of agreements.

Bainimarama also says the Pacific Small Island Developing States have never had the privilege of holding the General Assembly Presidency.

Tuvalu has set the tone for the forthcoming United Nations Climate Conference in Paris, France with its powerful statement that the discussions should not be about where the people of Tuvalu and other threatened nations should go but taking measures to allow them to stay, Bainimarama said.

Mr Key indicated that the 2014 elections in Fiji had restored the diplomatic balance.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama meet in New York.

He says he is happy that those who were criticising Fiji are now engaging with the government. With the island nation reliant on New Zealand and Australian aid, the Fijian leader has also ruffled feathers by openly courting China.