New Zealand signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Saturday with Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute to promote cooperation in Antarctica, the country’s foreign minister said Winston Peters said.
Peters met his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, where they witnessed the signing of an agreement between Antarctica New Zealand and the Alfred Wegener Institute.
“Antarctica is of increasing geostrategic and scientific importance, and this arrangement will broaden connections between our marine and polar science institutions,” Peters said.
The pair also discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and improved cooperation in the Pacific, Peters said.
“New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system and human rights,” he said.
“Germany is our largest export market in Europe. It is also New Zealand’s leading science and innovation partner and the largest education market in Europe, and the source of significant numbers of tourists and young people on working holidays.”
Baerbock also met with New Zealand Ministers Simon Watts and Judith Collins to discuss cooperation in space, science and climate change.
She arrived in New Zealand from Australia on Friday, where she met Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and visited a cybersecurity center and an Australian naval post in Adelaide.
On Sunday, as German Foreign Minister, she will visit the island nation of Fiji in the South Pacific.
