New Zealand will soon welcome President Francois Hollande of France to its shores as the French leader will visit the country for the first time. It is also the first time that a France's head of state will arrive in New Zealand to further strengthen the ties between the two countries and discuss the common interests in the South Pacific.

The president of France will arrive sometime on Nov 2014. The announcement of the planned visit comes after President Hollande said he will be attending the G20 summit in Queensland, Australia. Initial talks are ongoing about his travel to New Zealand.

The news of the French leader's visit indicates that France sees the increasing importance of the South Pacific where it has commercial, territorial and security interests. Reports said that France is growing concerned of the South Pacific's instability.

French Polynesia and New Caledonia are the two big French territories demanding their independence from the mother land. A French diplomatic source has confirmed that the French president welcomed the idea of discussing its interests and to include New Zealand on his agenda after the G-20 summit.

France tended to focus only on emerging economies like China, India and Brazil as well as other countries in Europe. His planned visit to New Zealand would show the rest of the world that France has become "multi-polar".

Mr Hollande's visit would coincide with New Zealand's commemoration of the beginning of World War I when 18,500 New Zealanders died. Many were killed in the Battle of Somme which took place in North Paris and at Passchendaele in Belgium.

France, the world's fifth-largest economy and the second-biggest market in the European Union, can be a potentially viable ally for New Zealand. France has excellent clout for being a founder member of the 28-nation bloc.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key went to France this week to seek support from the country to begin free trade between New Zealand and the European Union. This was an issue that has been on the backburner for several years. However, Mr Key admitted it the deal is still a long way off but he remains optimistic it will push through soon. He said New Zealand still has a lot of work to do for this to happen.

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