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Q: Going back to the econo-
my of your country, are there
trade and industry domains
other than agriculture?

Because we have such a propitious
k -a-t
climate, andverytalentedscientists
and farmers, we continue to im-
prove our productivity ratios in pri-
mary products. We have a unique
system of fisheries depending on

a quota system. We have a very
vibrant innovation sector as well,
and very creative too. You may have
seen The Lords of the Rings or The
Hobbit films, of which the entire
filming took place in New Zealand.
We also have a range of new busi-
nesses being created, for example
high-tech in the health-care sector.
There are a whole range of innova-
an active participant in internatio- emphasis on regional and bilateral tion and technology companies as
nal diplomacy. Thus, we have an relations too. I think it's important well.
ambassador at the World Trade Or- to have a seat at the table, because
ganization (WTO), a disarmament if you don't you may end up on the Q: Europe suffered quite a lot
ambassador, while I am ambas- menu ! during the economic turmoil
sador and head of mission for the of 2008. What happened in
UN and specialized agencies. For a I thinkthat is part ofthe reasonwhy New Zealand?
small country to have that level of everytwentyyears the New Zealand
representation in Geneva gives you Government has committed itself Of course, the global financial cri-
an indication of how important the to offering our candidature to the sis impacted on our economy as it
multilateral system is to us. Security Council. This is because impacted on others. However, next
we believe it's very important to be year, our growth rate is predicted
In terms of our priorities, my col- engaged and to play our role. There to be the fastest in the OCDE, so
league John Adank, who is the Per- are ig5 states in the UN system, so we have been lucky to be relati-
manent Representativeto theWTO, we consider it as very important to vely less affected than other deve-
chairs the agricultural committee, be a voice for other small states and loped countries. Part of this is due
while three of his predecessors also to be sure that we can contri- to the fact that we have fiscal rules
have had the same role. Agriculture butein apositivewayto {JNreform. in the financial sector, but even so
is very important to New Zealand, It is critical for us. we were affected. The New Zealand
amounting to 72% of our exports. Government has also managed its
He is very engaged at the moment Q: What does New Zealand fiscal and monetary policies quite
since it is a critical point inthe WI'O have to offer and which region cleverly during the crisis. They
negotiations. On the UN and the do you consider yourself to be borrowed as necessary, but are
specialized agencies side, obviously part of-the Asia-Pacific or back in surplus in :oi4. They made
the Human Rights Council, World the European region? sure that the negative impact of
Health Organization and Inter- the financial crisis on the citizens
national Labour Organisation are The {JN is a very confusing animal was cushioned, but at the same
important, as well as the humani- because there are different groups time the government conducted a
tarian organizations, such as the and configurations. New Zealand prudent fiscal policy so that we did

Red Cross, to which we are a donor. sees itself very much as part of the not become too indebted. As an
All of these are significant for us Asia-Pacific Region. We are an is- economist, I know how difficult it
as witnessed by our commitment. land nation, a Pacific nation, so we is to strike a balance. Our Finance
New Zealand has a very active plan do have a lot of things in common Minister was very pleased with all
for the Disarmament Conference, with our neighbouring states. For the attention he received for this
although there has not been much instance, Auckland, our major city, achievement at the Annual Meeting
movement there. is the largest Polynesian city in the of the World Economic Forum at
world, and there are more than 200 Davos in January 2014.
I think for all small countries the different languages spoken in our
multilateral system is important. country-but onlytwo official ones.
For New Zealand we put great

I 16 International