KEY POINTS:
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is to meet the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, in Hanoi today or tomorrow and will again raise the possibility of a free trade agreement.
He is also likely to be among a select group in a discussion with Dr Rice on North
Korea.
Foreign and trade ministers from the 21 Apec economies have joint and individual meetings scheduled ahead of the leaders' weekend summit in the Vietnamese capital.
Last week, Mr Peters told the American Chamber of Commerce in Auckland that senior State Department officials had said the United States would very much like to see a free trade agreement.
He is due to have a one-on-one meeting with Dr Rice and take part in a group meeting, called five plus five, to discuss North Korea and other security matters.
"It's a matter of sharing views between our two countries," Mr Peters said.
"One is massive, one is small, but the reality is we have a perspective and respect which the Americans value now and so the agenda will be on issues we are currently working on.
"But the Pacific will be raised as to what is happening right now as we speak, where we are going to go to in the short term.
"There is no doubt the issue of an FTA will be raised and it's a matter of supporting my colleague [Trade Minister] Phil Goff's position and getting us further down the track."
The five-plus-five meeting will be the third since July to which Mr Peters has been invited, at the suggestion of China, and is why Dr Rice telephoned him soon after North Korea tested a nuclear weapon on October 9.
Mr Peters said China asked New Zealand to take part in the five-plus-five talks "and the Americans agreed. I think it is because New Zealand has a record of principled foreign policy, because we are seen as a voice that speaks for itself, that comes to the table with no hidden agenda".
Indonesia and Canada are also on the invitation list to join talks with China and the United States and some of the other countries in the so-called six-party talks with North Korea.
China has persuaded North Korea to resume the talks, likely to take place after the Apec summit.
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who has special responsibility for North Korea, is expected in Hanoi.
He indicated at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji last month that New Zealand's anti-nuclear was, ironically, useful to the United States in pursuing its non-proliferation policy.
Mr Goff, whose other portfolios are Defence and Disarmament, is attending the Apec ministerial meeting.
He held talks in China with National Defence Minister General Cao Gang Chuan which included North Korea and the other major regional security concern, potential conflict between Taiwan and China.
Mr Goff said there was a lively discussion at the National Defence University in Beijing where he gave a speech.
"I emphasised both New Zealand's urging Taiwan not to provoke confrontation by declaring independence and the need for China to continue to exercise restraint and to resolve the issue of reunification by dialogue and co-operation, not force.
"I pointed to the disastrous consequences that could follow from military conflict over Taiwan."
This will be the second Apec meeting for Mr Peters as Foreign Minister.
"It's fair to say that Apec hasn't moved with the speed its founders and supporters wanted it to," he said.
Mr Peters is also scheduled to meet Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today - their first meeting since the crisis between Australia and Papua New Guinea and the Solomons.
