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It is my pleasure, on behalf of the Government of New Zealand, to welcome you today. The fact that this opening is being held within the precincts of Parliament is testimony to the importance we place upon it.

The United States is New Zealand's number one source of foreign direct investment and our second largest export market so I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you today and to introduce myself as New Zealand's new finance minister and treasurer.

Japan is vitally important to New Zealand. It is one of our key markets - our third biggest export market and our third biggest source of imports. It is also a significant supplier of direct investment.

This occasion marks a first for me. This is my first international trip since the change of government, Hong Kong in the first stop on my itinerary, and this is my first formal overseas speech as New Zealand's new Finance Minister and Treasurer.

Good evening. I would like to thank your president Roger Barton for inviting me to spend time with you tonight.

Today, Saturday 1 April is a good day to be looking at how we are going so far in government with our coalition partners, the Alliance.

Thank you for inviting me here to speak to you today. I was encouraged to note the co-operative tone of the conference and the expressed wish for a better understanding and relationship between the private sector and this Government.

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today, As you can imagine, the door to Government funding is pounded by many so it is a rare pleasure to talk to people whose reason for being is to actually give away money that the Government does not have to raise in the first place.

Thank you Goran Olssen and Stephen Crombie for inviting me to launch Ericsson’Cs new Mobile Applications Service Provider. Your decision locate this centre in Wellington will put New Zealand on the crest of the next wave of technological innovation.

Mr Speaker, I move that the Accident Insurance (Transitional Provisions) Bill 1999 be now read [a second time].