Inflation has hit its highest level in 30 years as consumer prices rose 1.4 percent in the three months ended December, taking the annual rate to 5.9 percent. The surge in housing, transport, building, and recreational goods was just above forecasts. Inflation pressures were broadbased with eight of the 11 price groups used by Stats […]

How on-farm emissions should be paid for will be up for debate at a series of meetings being held in provincial New Zealand from next week. In 2019 the government announced the sector would have to start paying for emissions from 2025, and the industry was given time to develop a way to measure and […]

Tourism Industry Aotearoa is urging the Government to update its plans for reopening New Zealand’s borders as Omicron has changed the game. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last week that Cabinet would be considering changes to the current border settings in the coming weeks, after the phased reopening announced in November was put on hold […]

Covid-19 continues to affect international student numbers at the South’s tertiary institutions. In 2019, before the Covid pandemic, about 3000 international students attended the University of Otago, its international office director, Jason Cushen, said. Since 2020, through the Government’s allocations, 148 students have received permission to return to the university. To date, 91 of these […]

Universities and colleges are worried that the border opening to foreign nationals in April will have little effect on international student mobility due to the visas being on processing hold until August. “Although the government has said it will begin a staged reopening of the border to fully vaccinated foreign nationals from April 30, international […]

Latest research into New Zealand’s premium ice cream industry suggests that exporters could find new buyers in valuable overseas markets including China as consumers increasingly look for tip-top quality in food. The new research finds scope to expand ice cream exports to Australia, Asia, and the UK. It suggests premium ice cream could potentially follow […]

Today, the world’s largest free trade agreement went into effect in Korea, bringing Asia-Pacific economies together into an unprecedented bloc, covering 30% of the global GDP. The actual trade benefits of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will not be fully effective for decades and are not necessarily all that significant. What matters most are […]

South Korea on Wednesday began enforcing new Covid-19 response measures, including reduced quarantine periods and expanded rapid testing, as its new cases jumped nearly 50 per cent in a day. The 13,012 new cases were 4,400 more than the previous single-day high of 8,571 set on Tuesday. It underscores the speed of transmissions driven by […]

Auckland Lantern Festival is being celebrated online this year after the physical version was cancelled due to New Zealand’s move to the red traffic light setting. The online programme, to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Tiger, is being launched today, which also happens to be Chinese New Year. The festival makes its online debut […]

Many have heard of Chinese New Year, but this is only part of an umbrella of Lunar New Year festivities celebrated by several East Asian and Southeast Asian communities across the country. Lunar New Year marks the beginning of the lunar calendar and this year, it falls on February 1. Tết Nguyên Đán, is the […]