The prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, leaves for a trade mission to the United States today. Her itinerary includes a keynote speech at Harvard’s commencement ceremony, tourism and trade meetings, and a second appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Ardern will also meet with the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and senior members of the Senate in Washington.
The trip is an opportunity to strengthen vital trade and tourism connections between the two countries after the Covid pandemic. The US is New Zealand’s third-largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth 18.5 billion NZD last year and annual trade growth averaging 5% over the last decade. Pre-Covid, US tourists made up ten percent of New Zealand’s tourist numbers.
Although Covid has created a great deal of uncertainty globally, Ardern says that it “hasn’t had a huge impact from the business delegation’s perspective nor for our engagements around business and tourism”, and “In these times, you roll with the Covid curveballs that you’re thrown.”
