New Zealand aid

David Nicholson left his posting over the weekend after almost two years in Apia.

He told the Samoa Observer a lot of aid projects failed because officials in Wellington do not understand the local context in the Pacific.

"When people talk about the Pacific in Wellington, they use a generic noun and as you know, you go to different Pacific countries and they are all very different," he said.

He said the aid process is full of process and takes too long to be implemented, although it has a focus on quality.

The Government is set to hike foreign aid by $US500 million ($NZ714 million) over the next four years, as part of its "Pacific reset" strategy. The funding boost represents a 30 percent increase in overseas development funding.

Mr Peters said it was time to reverse the decline in the country's aid support for multilateral and humanitarian agencies over the past decade, which had been sitting well below international averages.

He said the new funding would lift New Zealand's Overseas Development Assistance to 0.28% of gross national income over the next four years.

New Zealand recently halted more than a million dollars worth of aid to Nauru's justice sector over concerns regarding its integrity.

Nauru has accused New Zealand of bullying.

Mr McCully says he has indicated he wants to meet with David Adeang while both are in Port Moresby for the Pacific Islands Forum.

He says Mr Adeang has yet to return his calls.