Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently (01 July 2022) hosted the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, to discuss how the two countries could approach shared global challenges together.
The Prime Minister hosted the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, today to discuss how the two countries could approach shared global challenges together.
The two Prime Ministers welcomed the Free Trade Agreement signed between the two countries in February this year, and the Prime Minister thanked New Zealand for its support for UK accession to CPTPP.
The two leaders welcomed the agreement to expand the Youth Mobility Scheme, allowing young British nationals and New Zealanders to work more easily in both countries. They also signed the Research, Science and Innovation Arrangement, strengthening the UK and New Zealand's collaboration across all three areas to address issues such as climate change.
Reflecting on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and NATO summit in Madrid this week, the leaders discussed current geopolitical challenges and agreed on the importance supporting countries around the world in defending their sovereignty. The Prime Minister also thanked Prime Minister Ardern for New Zealand's support in training Ukrainian Armed Forces in the UK.
The leaders discussed the UK's increased engagement and investment in the Pacific region, and agreed on the importance of working closely with Pacific Island leaders to support their economic resilience.
Prime Minister Ardern updated on her work tackling violent extremism online as part of the Christchurch Call to Action, and the Prime Minister agreed more needed to be done to combat disinformation and drive the use of responsible algorithms.