New zealand expats

New Zealand and Vietnam today signed an Agriculture Cooperation Arrangement at an dialogue held virtually by New Zealand Chief Executive of the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, Ray Smith, and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Le Quoc Doanh.

At the dialogue, the two sides voiced their commitment to the two countries’ deepening agriculture and trade relationship. Smith and Doanh affirmed that the Strategic Partnership, which was jointly announced by Prime Ministers in July last year, has created a solid foundation for increasing bilateral agricultural cooperation and connections between the two countries.

Speaking at the dialogue, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, Mr Ray Smith, emphasized that this is a valuable opportunity to consider what both sides can do together as they build resilience and vitality back into their agriculture economies following COVID-19.

The Agriculture Cooperation Arrangement will enable both sides to advance their key agricultural interests in enhancing bilateral trade, reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, promoting food safety, utilising agriculture research and technology, and in rural development.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Minister Le Quoc Doanh of MARD said: “Agriculture is critical to the economic wellbeing of our countries. Both nations are strong agriculture producers and exporters, with complementary products. The establishment of the New Zealand – Viet Nam Agricultural Dialogue and the signing of the Agriculture Cooperation Arrangement today will boost our connections, cooperation and two-way trade, in line with what our two Prime Ministers highlighted during last years’ Strategic Partnership dialogue.”

The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries is already supporting agriculture cooperation with MARD with activities in plant health, veterinary epidemiology and electronic certification. These activities complement New Zealand’s ongoing development programme, which has a number of agriculture projects including the premium fruit development project in Tien Giang, the rural dam safety project in Central Viet Nam, and the safe vegetables project in Binh Dinh.

Ray Smith, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries said that New Zealand has developed one of the most efficient agriculture sectors in the world, with a reputation for cutting edge research and technology, robust and safe agricultural practices, and delicious and high-quality products. He expressed his hope that the newly signed cooperation arrangement will help build value and expand investment opportunities between the two countries: “We recognise that increased trade is not just about exporting more products, it’s about an exchange of knowledge, expertise, technology, services, and investment. This two-way exchange benefits both of us.”

He added, “We also look forward to doing more to assist MARD’s greenhouse gas inventory capability through the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.”

The two leaders confirmed their shared commitment to finalising new fruit access for each other this year so consumers can enjoy New Zealand strawberries and squash in Viet Nam and Viet Nam’s limes and pomelos in New Zealand.

Viet Nam is New Zealands’s 14th largest trading partner, with two-way trade valued at NZD$ 2 billion, at year end September 2020. While COVID-19 has posed some challenges, Viet Nam remains a promising market for New Zealand and vice versa due to robust demand for key agricultural products.

Two coronavirus infections that prompted a snap lockdown of New Zealand’s largest city on Monday have been revealed as the country’s first cases of the UK strain.

New Zealand’s health ministry said tests had identified that the infections in Auckland were caused by the highly contagious variant first found in the UK, with no link to any other positive cases detected so far in New Zealand.

“This result reinforces the decision to take swift and robust action around the latest cases to detect and stamp out the possibility of any further transmission,” the ministry said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ordered a three-day lockdown for almost two million Auckland residents from Monday, with schools and non-essential businesses forced to close.

No new infections had been detected beyond the initial cluster of three cases in one family, but health officials are rushing to find out how the virus entered the largely Covid-free country.

New Zealand director-general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, said the initial focus was on the mother’s workplace — a company providing laundry services to international flights — “because of its obvious connections to the border”.

But he cautioned it was “too soon to rule in or out” any source of transmission and the woman had not been at work for eight days before testing positive.

– ‘Not again’-

As tracing and testing ramped up, the streets of central Auckland were largely empty on the first day of the lockdown, with torrential rain helping to discourage people from venturing outdoors.

Covid-19 testing centres were busy, though, and there were long lines of vehicles stopped at police roadblocks as people tried to leave the city despite the lockdown.

The city has been ring-fenced from the rest of New Zealand, with travel in and out of the metropolis highly restricted for the next three days.

It was the first clampdown in nearly six months in the Pacific island nation, which has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic, with just 25 deaths in a population of five million.

The remainder of the country was placed on a lower alert level, with people required to wear masks on public transport and gatherings limited to a maximum of 100 people.

“I know we all feel the same way when this happens -– not again,” Ardern said in announcing the measures on Sunday afternoon.

“But remember, we have been here before, that means we know how to get out of this -– together.”

Auckland spent more than two weeks in lockdown last August after a virus outbreak was linked to a worker handling imported frozen freight, but New Zealand has largely been enjoying relaxed restrictions for months.

Several cases of the South African variant of Covid-19 were also detected in the city three weeks ago, before being traced back to a hotel where the people had completed quarantine after arriving from overseas.

That outbreak was successfully contained without a lockdown, even though the South African Covid-19 variant is also considered highly infectious.

Ardern has been widely praised for her management of the pandemic, with New Zealand recording fewer than 2,000 infections.

The country closed its borders and implemented a strict five-week lockdown in March and April last year, with occasional outbreaks since then being quickly contained.

The virtual dialogue was co-chaired by Ray Smith, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, and Dr Le Quoc Doanh, Vice Minister of Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

A New Zealand embassy press release said the two leaders had confirmed their shared commitment to finalizing new fruit access for each other this year, so consumers can enjoy New Zealand strawberries and squash in Vietnam and Vietnam’s limes and pomelos in New Zealand.

The two sides signed an Agriculture Cooperation Arrangement (ACA) after the dialogue.

The ACA will enable both sides to advance their key agricultural interests in enhancing bilateral trade, reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, promoting food safety, utilizing agriculture research and technology, and fostering rural development, the release said.

The New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries is already supporting agriculture cooperation with MARD through activities in plant health, veterinary epidemiology and electronic certification.

These activities complement New Zealand’s ongoing development program in the country, which has a number of agriculture projects including one on premium fruit development in the southern province of Tien Giang, another on rural dam safety project in central Vietnam, and yet another on safe vegetables in central Binh Dinh Province.

Smith and Doanh affirmed that the strategic partnership between the two countries has created a solid foundation for increasing bilateral agricultural cooperation and connections.

Vietnam is New Zealand’s 14th largest trading partner, with two-way trade valued at over $1.4 billion as of September 2020.

Vietnam has received licenses to export fresh mango, dragon fruit and rambutan to New Zealand so far. It imports apple, kiwi fruit, kiwi berry, blue berry, cherry and persimmons.

WELLINGTON/SYDNEY — A 7.7 magnitude undersea earthquake struck the South Pacific region on Thursday, triggering a brief tsunami warning for Australia and New Zealand that was cancelled, with no immediate reports of damage.

The European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said the quake’s epicentre was 417 kilometres (258 miles) east of Tadine, New Caledonia, and at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

Tsunami centres across the region sent alerts for the public to stay off beaches and shore areas due to risks of unexpected currents and unusual waves. Those warnings were later cancelled, and authorities said any tsunami threat to mainlands in Australia and New Zealand had passed.

“Based on the most recent modelling and decreasing tsunami amplitudes at North Cape, Great Barrier Island and the East Cape, the tsunami threat has passed for New Zealand,” the National Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.

“There could still be large unexpected currents and the public are advised to continue to take precautions in coastal zones for the rest of today,” it added.

Australia cancelled a marine tsunami warning it had issued for residents of Lord Howe Island, a marine reserve more than 700 kilometres northeast of Sydney. There was no threat to the mainland, it said.

The quake followed at least three other tremors in the region with magnitudes ranging from 5.7 to 6.1 in a span of just over an hour.

There were no immediate reports of damage near the epicentre in New Caledonia, John Ristau, a seismologist from New Zealand-based GNS Science, told NewsHub’s The AM Show.

“It’s most likely that damage would have been minimal if anything at all,” he said, adding that Thursday morning’s earthquake could trigger more tremors.

The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said a tsunami watch was in effect for American Samoa and cited a potential for tsunamis in other regions including Vanuatu, Fiji and New Zealand.

Waves reaching up to a level of 1 metre (3.3 feet) above the normal tide level were possible for some coastal areas, it added.

MELBOURNE — Exactly one year after New Zealand recorded its first coronavirus case, the country’s biggest city, Auckland, woke up on Sunday to a second lockdown this month as health authorities try to rein in a cluster of the more contagious UK variant.

The seven-day lockdown of the city of nearly 2 million, announced late Saturday by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, was prompted by the case of a person who had been infectious for a week but had not been in isolation.

“It is more than likely there will be additional cases in the community,” Ardern told a televised news conference, although there were no new cases recorded on Sunday.

The lockdown follows a three-day stay-at-home order in mid-February after a local emergence of the UK variant of the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. There are now about 14 cases linked to the cluster.

“Despite our best efforts to date, recent cases have gone to work when they shouldn’t have,” Ardern said.

Judith Collins, leader of the opposition, called for tougher penalties against those not following public health advice around isolation. “No one wants to be yo-yoing in and out lockdown,” Collins said in a statement.

The new lockdown, with Level 3 restrictions, allows people to leave home only for essential shopping and essential work. Public venues will remain closed. Restrictions in the rest of the country will be tightened to Level 2, including limits on public gatherings.

The measures have complicated several high-visibility sporting events planned in Auckland.

The organisers of the America’s Cup yacht race said on Sunday the head-to-head final between Italy and New Zealand that was to start March 6 was postponed to at least March 10.

New Zealand’s fourth Twenty20 International cricket match against Australia has been shifted to Wellington where it will be played behind closed doors on Friday.

Some social media users from around the world expressed dismay at the strong response that would lock down a large city over a single case, with one Twitter user writing, “They are insane.”

However, swift public health measures often implemented in the past year, combined with aggressive contact tracing and border closure have been credited with making New Zealand highly successful in keeping the coronavirus pandemic from spreading.

New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has recorded just over 2,000 coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic and 26 deaths.

New Zealand on Sunday reported three new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, the country’s first since late January, when a returned traveller tested positive after leaving quarantine.

New Zealand’s minister for COVID-19 response, Chris Hipkins, said the three cases were a couple and their daughter in Auckland, and that genomic testing was being conducted to see if the family’s infection was linked to any highly infectious variants.

The new cases, the first since Jan. 24, forced Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to return to the capital Wellington, skipping a gay pride event in Auckland that she was due to attend on Sunday afternoon.

“Our system has swung into action,” Hipkins told a hastily called media conference. “We are gathering all of the facts as quickly as we can. And the system that’s served us so well in the past is really gearing up to do so again.”

New Zealand – which had gone more than two months without infection before the January case – is to start inoculating its 5 million people against the new coronavirus on Feb. 20, after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine earlier than anticipated.

The country remains on alert level 1 for COVID-19, its lowest level, with no restrictions.

“No further consideration of change to alert levels has been taken at this point. We will collect more information before we would make any such decision,” Hipkins said.

Health authorities are still working to find out how the family contracted the virus and “whether COVID-19 could be out there in the community … or whether this is the start of what could be a chain of transmission,” he said.

As a precaution, the high school of the girl in the family will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, with COVID-19 testing facilities to be set up there, officials said.

Airlines have also been contacted, as the woman in the infected family works for an airline catering company, LSG Sky Chefs, where she mostly works in the laundry facilities, they said.