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John Mullen, Council’s President, Visit to New Zealand The 2004 visit to New Zealand, my first one as Council President, took place between November 26 and December 4, 2004. The trip was very successful. It coincided with the Annual General meeting (AGM) of the NA-US Council, and was jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), and Ellen Gordon, Chief Executive of the NZ-US Council. In an intensive week of meetings, luncheons, and dinners, I visited three of the country’s main cities and spoke, among others, with officials of eight international companies and two newspapers. The tour began in Auckland, where I met with the American Chamber of Commerce. Later in Auckland, I attended the AGM of the NZ-US Council, which was chaired by Jim Bolger, former Prime Minister of New Zealand. Mike Moore, former Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), was among the distinguished NZ business executives present at the event. The AGM meeting was followed by a dinner and a reception, where Senator Max Baucus of Montana and a visiting Montana business delegation joined us. In Wellington, I met with Foreign Minister Phil Goff and with officials from five other ministries and PHARMAC. U.S. Ambassador Swindells and David Burnett, his DCM, welcomed me with a lunch. I also met with parliamentary leaders among whom were opposition leader Don Brash, Lockwood Smith of the National Party, and Peter Dunne of the United Future Party. In the last leg of the trip I traveled to Christchurch with Roy Ferguson, head of the Americas Division of MFAT. We were briefed at he NZ Antarctic Institute and at the Lincoln University Dairy Farm. The trip was a great learning experience and very productive in terms of contacts, refining issues and identifying support for the FTA. I also received strong support from NZ government officials for the Leadership Dialogue, now tentatively scheduled for spring 2006. |