Wellington, Apr. 18 : President Barack Obama will be invited to visit New Zealand by the Maori king.

King Tuheitia, who is expected to lead a Tainui delegation to New York next week, would invite Obama to visit New Zealand, the New Zealand Herald reports.

King Tuheitia will join former Prime Minister Helen Clark for her welcome next week as head of the United Nations Development Programme.

King Tuheitia would then ask former United States President Bill Clinton to pass the invitation to Obama to visit his base, Turangawaewae.

Clinton met King Tuheitia''s mother, the late Maori Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu in New Zealand in 1996.

King Tuheitia was given a special seat during Clark''s valedictory speech in Parliament. (ANI)