English to Germany, London this week

Finance Minister Bill English departs for Germany today to attend the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) annual meeting, as well as a number of other opportunities to promote New Zealand’s profile with key European trade partners.

Mr English will also travel to London where he’ll meet with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon George Osborne as well as the Governor of the Bank of England, Mr Mark Carney, and will take part in an investor roundtable discussion on the lessons learned from the United Kingdom’s public sector reforms.

In his capacity as Governor of the ADB, Mr English will meet with the President, Takehiko Nakao, and hold bi-lateral meetings with his counterparts from Indonesia, Singapore, the Cook Islands and Australia to discuss regional economic development.

“Alongside the official ADB programme, I’ll hold meetings with the European Central Bank President, Mario Draghi, the Bundesbank President, Dr Jens Weidmann and the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble.

“These meetings are an opportunity to discuss the current global financial policy agenda and to gather views on the world economic outlook and key global risks.

“They are also an opportunity to gather insights from our trade partners as well as promote the European Union / New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.”