The upgraded New Zealand – China Free Trade Agreement enters into force on Thursday the 7th of April. The FTA Upgrade delivers improved access for New Zealand industries, including the wood and dairy sectors: tariff-free entry for about 99% of New Zealand’s nearly NZ$3b wood and paper trade to China, and all New Zealand dairy […]

The Embassy of Japan, in cooperation with the Japan Foundation, are very pleased to announce that the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Film Festival Online will be back in 2022 and accessible to people all over New Zealand for FREE. A selection of 19 different films, from Kurosawa Akira classics through to new releases from 2021 in […]

There is concern New Zealand’s pandemic-driven brain gain of skilled workers is turning into a “brain drain” as young people head overseas. Provisional migration figures from Stats NZ show there have been more people leaving the country year-on-year than arriving each month since April 2021. Comparatively high cost of living coupled with lower wages, alongside […]

New Zealand’s red meat sector exports reached $10 billion in 2021 despite the disruption caused by Covid-19, according to an analysis by the Meat Industry Association (MIA). Overall, both sheepmeat and beef exports increased by 5 per cent and 9 per cent year-on-year respectively, with both worth more than $4 billion for the year. China […]

New Zealand was the world’s second most democratic country in 2021, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) says in its annual Democracy Index. That was an improvement from fourth place the year before, with New Zealand considered to have become more democratic during 2021. The country considered most democratic was Norway, with the four places after […]

An exclusive hotel on the banks of the Waikato River has landed a plaudit as one of the most romantic hotels in the world. Better known as a fishing lodge for the rich and famous, Huka Lodge near Taupō refuses to be type cast. The lodge features at number 6 in the 50 Most Romantic […]

According to the New Zealand Horticulture Export Authority, avocados were the fifth most valuable horticultural export in 2020. But the season had been rocky, with a slump in sales to Australia. Now, some growers are switching to selling avocados directly to online purchasers, not to buyers for supermarkets. Growers like Corey Ramage, who launched Grower […]

New Zealand has reported a record-low unemployment rate in the December quarter, according to Stats NZ, which the government attributed to its “interventions” on employment. Unemployment rate in New Zealand fell to 3.2% in the December quarter, down from the 3.3% in the September quarter. It is the fifth-equal lowest in the Organisation for Economic […]

When National MP Erica Stanford asked Chris Hipkins a question, she probably did not expect him to respond to her with nothing more than an internet meme. That is precisely what Stanford received in response to a written parliamentary question from December when she asked Hipkins a question about allocating MIQ spots for teachers granted […]

Two years ago New Zealand’s $300 million rock lobster export industry came to a halt overnight due to the pandemic. The summer of 2022 is seeing a gradual rebound of the industry. Most lobsters harvested in New Zealand go to the high-paying Chinese market, with demand traditionally strong in late January and February when the […]