H.E. Ambassador Arie van der Wiel and Ms Mathilda van der Wiel with two Dutch cheese girls in traditional dress. |
Dutch Queen's Birthday celebrated in orange.
On 28-29 April, Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch turned partly Orange. This was to celebrate the official birthday of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on 30 April, when the Dutch Embassy in Wellington and Consulates in Auckland and Christchurch organised receptions for representatives of the NZ Government, business community and civil society, the Diplomatic Corps and the Dutch community. Ambassador Arie van der Wiel and the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Hon Christopher Finlayson, underlined the strong links between the peoples of both countries, the ever growing cooperation between Government departments, scientific institutions and businesses. The Netherlands are New Zealand's third largest foreign investor and many Dutch people work in NZ's dairy, agricultural and manufacturing industries.
|
President Sarkozy greets Prime Minister Key at the Elysee Palace (Credit: Photo / AP) |
President Sarkozy welcomes Prime Minister Key in Paris.
After first visiting the north of France (Le Quesnoy, Longueval) on 24th April to pay tribute to New Zealanders' role in the First World War, Prime Minister John Key visited Paris on 27 April. He was officially welcomed in the courtyard of Les Invalides on behalf of the French government by Mr. Mariani, Secretary of State for Transport. The calls on President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Minister François Fillon, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Alain Juppé and Minister of Finance Christine Lagarde discussed the following issues: the excellent bilateral relationship between France and New Zealand, China, commerce (G20, Doha round, agriculture issues) and European governance, especially the future of the Eurozone. During each call, Prime Minister Key extended an invitation to his host to attend the New Zealand Rugby World Cup, especially the France versus New Zealand match on 24th September 2011.
|
Prime Ministers John Key and David Cameron
|
A Royal Welcome to PM Key in London.
Prime Minister John Key was in London the week of 25 April to attend the Royal Wedding, following two postponed visits due to the Christchurch earthquakes. He met with The Queen, The Prince of Wales, Prime Minister David Cameron, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Governor of the Bank of England and business leaders in the City. On the eve of the Wedding, he attended a dinner for Realm Prime Ministers hosted by the Foreign Secretary. In their first face-to-face meeting since the February earthquake, David Cameron expressed condolences and sympathy to those affected in New Zealand, as did The Queen. Libya and Afghanistan, tackling public expenditure and the economy were on the agenda for the dinner at 10 Downing Street. On the prosperity front, a new UK-NZ Science and Innovation Working Group was launched to maximise the commercialisation of R&D. Mr Key marked Anzac Day by attending the Dawn Service at the Hyde Park Memorial. He also laid a wreath at the Cenotaph and gave a reading at a Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving at Westminster Abbey.
|
Minister Groser, Hungarian Permanent Representative Peter Gyorkos (representing EU Presidency) and Commissioner De Gucht
|
Commissioner De Gucht and Minister Groser sign agreement in Brussels.
On 28 April, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser signed an agreement in the Form of an Exchange of Letters modifying concessions in the schedules of Bulgaria and Romania after their accession to the European Union. In a separate communique, Beef + Lamb New Zealand Chief Executive, Dr Scott Champion said “This increase, while modest, will allow New Zealand meat companies to export a total of 228,254 tonnes of lamb, mutton and goatmeat products to the EU tariff-free each year." For details of the concesssions, please see here. During his visit in Brussels, Minister Groser also attended the Major Economies Forum. For the video of the agreement signature, please see here.
|
NZ Foreign Minister Murray McCully greeted by Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas
Credit: Flickr |
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully Visits Greece.
On 26th and 27th April, Minister McCully paid a working visit to Greece, meeting his counterpart FM Dimitris Droutsas and Deputy FM Spyros Kouvelis. Mr McCully’s visit coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Crete, an epic duly remembered and commemorated in both countries. (NZ Defence Minister Wayne Mapp, accompanied by veterans of the Battle, is expected to arrive in Crete in two weeks time to attend the official commemoration.) The talks with Mr. Kouvelis focused on bilateral economic relations, with emphasis on energy issues and especially renewable energy sources. Developmental cooperation and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan were also discussed. The two Foreign Ministers deliberated upon the situation in the Mediterranean, particularly recent developments in the Arab World, and issues of bilateral political and economic cooperation. Mr McCully noted that New Zealand was distant geographically but very close to Europe in terms of the European values of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. He described his talks in Athens as very constructive.
|
EU High Representative Baroness Catherine Ashton
|
Baroness Ashton Meets Minister McCully for first time.
On 14th April, the EU's High Representative Catherine Ashton held her first meeting with NZ's Foreign Minister Murray McCully, in the margins of the NATO/ISAF Foreign Ministers conference in Berlin. The very open and friendly 45 minute meeting started with NZ thanking the EU for its offers of assistance following the Christchurch earthquake and a brief exchange about the earthquake in Japan and its aftermath. Other topics covered were Afghanistan, the Cairo Conference on Libya, Fiji and the Pacific as well as how the EU-NZ relationship might be further strengthened. The EU Foreign Ministers of Denmark, France, Hungary and Spain also held bilateral talks with Foreign Minister McCully. He took advantage of his time in Germany as well to meet with its Development Minister Dirk Niebel.
|
Monique Surges CEO New Zealand German Business Association
|
The New Zealand Europe Business Council Inc Annual General Meeting.
The New Zealand Europe Business Council president, Monique Surges, addressed members at the Annual General Meeting, which took place in Auckland on Wednesday, 13th April. The newly elected committee are: President Monique Surges - CEO New Zealand German Business Association, Vice President - Elizabeth Maxwell – Italian Chamber of Commerce, Treasurer Peter Deutschle - Honorary Consul of Switzerland. The Committee also consists of Peter Kiely - Consulate of the Republic of Slovakia (past president), Tony Andrew - British New Zealand Business Council, Laurent Antonczak - French-NZ Chamber of Commerce, and Stig Enhbohm - NZ Scandinavia Business Association.
Incorporated in 2005, with the primary objective to promote the establishment of closer economic cooperation between New Zealand and Europe, the NZEBC acts as an umbrella organisation bringing together the many and varied interests of those involved in major New Zealand - Europe bi-lateral trade. To enhance the standing of the NZ Europe Business Ccouncil, the establishment of a small database of European subsidiaries with a base in New Zealand was undertaken earlier this year. At present the subsidiary list consists of the following breakdown Germany (83), United Kingdom (69), Netherlands (30), Denmark (22), France (21), Italy (10), Sweden (9), Belgium (3), Finland (3), Austria (2) and Ireland(2). Minutes and the Presidents report are available on the EU Webportal here.
|
Jill Duggan |
Changing the climate in NZ.
Jill Duggan, a EU's carbon price expert from the European Commission, was in New Zealand during 24-29 March, talking to government, business and academia. Her visit offered an opportunity for interested New Zealanders to learn more about Europe's experience of its emissions trading scheme, in place since 2005 and other measures it uses to mitigate global warming. Her key message was that the EU ETS is here to stay and combines with other tools such as such as regulation, information and the Common Agricultural Polic to reduce carbon emissions. A carbon constrained world is the next technological revolution and Europe intends to be at its cutting edge. She encouraged New Zealand to think about the shape of the 2050 world and its place in it. See her interview here.
|