Turnbull inks Pacific jobs deal in Samoa

Pacific workers will be sent to rural and remote towns in Australia under a deal signed by Malcolm Turnbull at the Pacific Islands Forum.

Malcolm Turnbull has signed a string of bilateral deals while at the Pacific Islands Forum in Samoa. (AAP)

Up to 2000 Pacific Islanders will soon fly to Australia to plug labour gaps under a deal struck in Samoa.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Friday signed agreements with leaders from Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru on the sidelines of the annual Pacific Islands Forum.

Pacific workers will be sent to rural and remote towns for up to three years to cover shortages in low and semi-skilled jobs.

The deal expands on the longstanding, farming-based seasonal workers scheme to include industries such as tourism and aged care.

Financiers will be called on to make it easier for Pacific workers to send their incomes home.

Australia also promised to fund new aerial surveillance missions over the Pacific to detect and disrupt illegal fishing.

The planes will be in the air by the end of 2017 and add to Australia's fleet of Pacific patrol boats.

Mr Turnbull has also struck a deal with Tonga, Nauru and Tuvalu to improve health safeguards.

Each will receive help from the Therapeutic Goods Administration to make sure medicines coming into their countries are up to scratch.