WELLINGTON, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is to attend the East Asia Summit in Cebu in the Philippines next week.

    Clark's office said Thursday that she will depart New Zealand late Saturday and return on the Jan. 17.

    The summit was postponed last month due to a typhoon threatening to hit Cebu. This will be the second East Asia Summit, following the inaugural meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 2005.

    The meeting will bring together leaders from the 10 countries making up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ASEAN+3 (ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea), and Australia, New Zealand, and India.

    "Energy issues will be a priority topic for the Cebu meeting, along with education, finance, avian flu, and disaster mitigation and preparedness," said Clark.

    She said leaders at this year's Summit also face the challenge of determining a role for it which complements and adds value to the work of other processes, such as APEC. Other topics, such as the WTO's Doha Round and recent developments in North Korea are also likely to be discussed.

    "New Zealand welcomes the development of outward-looking and inclusive regional structures such as the East Asia Summit. We need to play a full part in these developments, and we are strongly committed to the Summit's success," said Clark.