MEDIA RELEASE
10 September 2007

NZ US Council welcomes new arrangement for working holidays in USA

The NZ US Council today welcomed the new arrangement, signed at today’s US NZ Partnership Forum, which extends the time tertiary students may work and travel in the United States.

“This new arrangement will be of real interest to New Zealand students. It is fully in keeping with the spirit of an expanded partnership between the US and NZ which is under discussion at this week’s Partnership Forum”, says NZ US Council Executive Director, Stephen Jacobi.

Jacobi congratulates the US Government for making this new facility available. It follows an earlier arrangement made by the NZ Government which extends the working holiday scheme to American students.

“People to people exchanges are a vital component of New Zealand’s multifaceted relationship with the United States. Visits in both directions help foster understanding and make important contacts for the future and provide a boost to the efforts of Fulbright NZ which encourages academic exchanges in both directions.”

The new arrangement was signed for the United States by Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Christopher Hill, and witnessed by New Zealand Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Helen Clark. Both addressed the Partnership Forum this morning in Auckland.

Chris Hill is joined at the Forum by around 50 American government officials and business leaders, making this the largest and most senior American delegation ever to have visited New Zealand. The Forum concludes tomorrow after two days of discussion between New Zealand and US delegates on how the two countries can strengthen political, business and personal ties.

“The new working holiday arrangement provides another proof point on how much the relationship between New Zealand and the US has strengthened and of the value of these kinds of bilateral relationship building meetings,” says Jacobi.

ENDS

NOTE FOR EDITORS.

About the Partnership Forum - The two day Partnership Forum is an invitation only event that brings together leaders from the American and New Zealand governments, business and non government communities to discuss how the economic, political and personal ties between the two countries can be strengthened and developed to meet the challenges of today’s global economy.

The Partnership forum will be jointly chaired by:

* Clayton Yeutter who has a distinguished record as former US Trade Representative, Secretary of Agriculture, CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and President of the Republican Party National Committee.

* Tom Vilsack who was a highly successful Governor of Iowa from 1997 until 2007 and a former Democratic Presidential candidate. He visited New Zealand in March 2004 with a life sciences delegation which has given rise to valuable ongoing co-operation between New Zealand and Iowa in biotechnology.

* Jim Bolger who was New Zealand Prime Minister from 1990 until 1997 and subsequently New Zealand’s Ambassador to Washington. Today Mr. Bolger is Chairman of New Zealand Post, Kiwibank, Trustees Executors and the World Agricultural Forum as well as of the NZ US Council. He is also Vice Chancellor of the University of Waikato.

* Mike Moore who is a former New Zealand Prime Minister and Trade Minister. From 1999 to 2002 he served as Director General of the World Trade Organisation and was responsible for launching the WTO’s Doha Development Agenda.

The New Zealand Institute has produced new research on the state of the US-NZ economic relationship specifically for the Forum. The research is available in summary form on the NZUS Council’s website – http://www.nzuscouncil.com/images/uploads/US_NZ_Partnership__Forum_PUBLIC.pdf.

About the NZUS Council – www.nzuscouncil.com
The NZ US Council is a non partisan body funded by both business and the Government to promote New Zealand’s broader relationship with the US. Two way trade with the US is valued at over $8 billion and the US is a leading source of investment, innovation and business ideas. The 2007 US-NZ Partnership Forum will be held in Auckland 9-11 September 2007. The New Zealand Government with the support of the Council continues to make New Zealand’s case for an FTA with the United States.

About the US-NZ Council – www.usnzcouncil.org
The US-NZ Council is a private non-profit organization founded in 1986 and headquartered in Washington DC. Its mission is to foster and strengthen United States-New Zealand relations through enhanced communications, encouraging the expansion of trade and commercial ties, and facilitating cultural exchanges between the two countries. The Council works closely with the US business community with interests in New Zealand, and maintains close contacts with officials of both governments and New Zealand’s Washington Embassy. The Council organized the first ever US NZ Partnership Forum held in Washington DC 20-22 April 2006.

© Scoop Media