South Pacific leaders had shown a high level of "buy-in" for a review of the 16-member grouping of countries that make up the Pacific Islands Forum, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Monday.

With the exception of Nauru, the other forum countries will be at a special meeting being held in Auckland Tuesday to consider the review's recommendations.

Pacific countries agreed at last year's forum meeting to the review, which had the aim of developing a vision for the Pacific for the 21st century.

Clark said previously that the review gave a clear steer on the kind of work and priorities the forum should be following.

The Forum is due to hold its annual meeting in Samoa in August but the prime minister has said she and other leaders were keen to deal with the review now.

That meant the forum secretary general would be able to get on with a work program ahead of the August meeting.

Clark, who as the current chairwoman of the Forum called the special retreat, has been holding individual meetings with Pacific leaders as they have arrived.

She told reporters Monday "the feedback has been very positive because this report was very well consulted on."

There appeared to be a high level of "buy in" for the report, she said.

The review group, chaired by the former Papua New Guinea Premier Sir Julius Chan, held about 400 meetings around the Pacific including with government, opposition parties and non-government organizations.

The Pacific Islands Forum, which had its 34th meeting in Auckland, New Zealand, in August 2003, comprises Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2004)