First Maori FM of New Zealand Meets Secretary Locsin, Discusses Bilateral and Regional Matters

New Zealand Foreign Minister, the Hon. Nanaia Mahuta paid a virtual courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. on 06 August 2021, in view of the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.(Photo from Wellington PE)

PASAY CITY, 06 August 2021 – The New Zealand Foreign Minister, the Hon. Nanaia Mahuta paid a virtual courtesy call on Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. on 06 August 2021, in view of the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Secretary Locsin and Foreign Minister Mahuta discussed a range of bilateral and regional matters, including closer engagement and cooperation in the areas of economic development, New Zealand’s chairmanship of APEC in 2021, COVID-19 cooperation and post-pandemic recovery, the status of Filipinos in New Zealand, as well as maritime issues, in light of both countries’ shared interest in the maintenance of regional peace and stability.

Secretary Locsin congratulated Minister Mahuta as the first woman and first Maori to be appointed as Foreign Minister of New Zealand, and called for further cooperation between New Zealand and the Philippines on Indigenous Peoples concerns, on account of their shared Austronesian heritage. END

For information, visit https://www.philembassy.org.nz/ and https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNZ/