Latest news with #MFAT
New Straits Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Zahid arrives in New Zealand for 5-day working visit
AUCKLAND: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrived here today (July 14) to begin his five-day working visit to New Zealand. Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, touched down at the Auckland International Airport at about 11.30am local time (7.30am Malaysian time) and was received by Malaysian High Commissioner to New Zealand Mazita Marzuki and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Americas and Asia Group Deputy Secretary Grahame Morton. Also present was MFAT South and Southeast Asia Divisional Manager Joanna Kempkers. In a post on Facebook, Zahid described the visit as part of Malaysia's ongoing strategic efforts to strengthen its long-standing ties with New Zealand, which were established in 1957. He said it also reflects the shared commitment of both nations to continue high-level engagements and cooperation. "I hope this visit will further strengthen our diplomatic relations, broaden strategic collaboration across various sectors and promote Malaysia's national interest on the global stage. "Insya-Allah, may this mission bring benefits to the people and the country," he said. During the visit, Zahid is scheduled to meet with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, Foreign Minister Winston Peters, Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka, as well as Agriculture, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay. Ahmad Zahid, who is also Halal Industry Development Council chairman, is slated to participate in a Halal Forum organised by the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries and engagement sessions with local industry and business leaders. He is also expected to witness the signing of cooperation documents between both countries in the field of higher education. Other programmes lined up include a visit to the National Crisis Management Centre, a roundtable session with the Maori community in Rotorua and a gathering with some 250 Malaysians residing in New Zealand. The last official visit to New Zealand by a Malaysian leader was in March 2005 by the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was then prime minister. — BERNAMA
The Star
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Ahmad Zahid arrives in New Zealand for five-day working visit
AUCKLAND: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrived here on Monday (July 14) to begin his five-day working visit to New Zealand. Ahmad Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, touched down at the Auckland International Airport at about 11.30am local time (5.30am Malaysian time) and was received by Malaysian High Commissioner to New Zealand Mazita Marzuki and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Americas and Asia Group Deputy Secretary Grahame Morton. Also present was MFAT South and Southeast Asia Divisional Manager Joanna Kempkers. In a post on Facebook, Ahmad Zahid described the visit as part of Malaysia's ongoing strategic efforts to strengthen its long-standing ties with New Zealand, which were established in 1957. He said it also reflects the shared commitment of both nations to continue high-level engagements and cooperation. "I hope this visit will further strengthen our diplomatic relations, broaden strategic collaboration across various sectors and promote Malaysia's national interest on the global stage. "May this mission bring benefits to the people and the country," he said. During the visit, Ahmad Zahid is scheduled to meet with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, Foreign Minister Winston Peters, Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka, as well as Agriculture, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay. Ahmad Zahid, who is also Halal Industry Development Council chairman, is slated to participate in a halal forum organised by the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries and engagement sessions with local industry and business leaders. He is also expected to witness the signing of cooperation documents between both countries in the field of higher education. Other programmes lined up include a visit to the National Crisis Management Centre, a roundtable session with the Maori community in Rotorua and a gathering with some 250 Malaysians residing in New Zealand. The last official visit to New Zealand by a Malaysian top leader was in March 2005 by the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was then Prime Minister. - Bernama
Barnama
14-07-2025
- Business
- Barnama
Ahmad Zahid Arrives In New Zealand For Five-day Working Visit
GENERAL From Ahmad Erwan Othman AUCKLAND, July 14 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi arrived here today to begin his five-day working visit to New Zealand. Ahmad Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, touched down at the Auckland International Airport at about 11.30 am local time (5.30 am Malaysian time) and was received by Malaysian High Commissioner to New Zealand Mazita Marzuki and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Americas and Asia Group Deputy Secretary Grahame Morton. Also present was MFAT South and Southeast Asia Divisional Manager Joanna Kempkers. In a post on Facebook, Ahmad Zahid described the visit as part of Malaysia's ongoing strategic efforts to strengthen its long-standing ties with New Zealand, which were established in 1957. He said it also reflects the shared commitment of both nations to continue high-level engagements and cooperation. 'I hope this visit will further strengthen our diplomatic relations, broaden strategic collaboration across various sectors and promote Malaysia's national interest on the global stage. 'Insya-Allah, may this mission bring benefits to the people and the country,' he said. During the visit, Ahmad Zahid is scheduled to meet with Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour, Foreign Minister Winston Peters, Maori Development Minister Tama Potaka, as well as Agriculture, Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay.
RNZ News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Stranded in hell: How people are extracted from war zones
Photo: JACK GUEZ It is dangerous, diplomatically delicate and extremely expensive. Getting a New Zealander out of a war zone can cost $1 million if they're injured. It often takes high level negotiations with top secret contacts and New Zealand often has to ask favours of other friendly countries to get its citizens to safety. "It's a very tricky business to exfiltrate or extract or save New Zealanders abroad in other countries' jurisdictions," says Stephen Hoadley, retired Auckland University professor of political science. "They are hosts to New Zealanders but they don't expect that to be abused by New Zealand flying in and moving around the countryside ignoring local sensitivities." Hoadley says the New Zealand government faces pressure from many corners when citizens are caught in conflict zones and it often has scant information about an operation because things are changing by the hour. "About half of New Zealanders never bother to register in a foreign country and of course they're vulnerable, more at risk because MFAT cannot contact them, their families cannot contact them often and then the families will ring up the Minister of Foreign Affairs desperate to contact their son, daughter, brother, sister in a war zone and this puts a lot of pressure on the minister, the ministry, the bureaucrats and others." Jerusalem-based Samoan Vincent Schmidt tells The Detail how he used his contacts as a security officer for the United Nations to get a young Samoan student to safety after she was stranded in Israel last week. But it took several days and involved the Samoan ambassador in Belgium and the government back in Apia to get Polino Falevaai home. Schmidt explains how they all communicated by WhatsApp, as Falevaai travelled by bus for four to five hours over the border into Egypt, encountering a number of checkpoints before she faced a two-day wait in a chaotic Cairo airport. "There were a couple of flights that got cancelled a couple of minutes before she had to board the plan but because of the checkpoints they got delayed, there was a miscommunication with the school. Yeah, there were a lot of challenges," says Schmidt ReliefAid humanitarian agency founder Mike Seawright recalls a high risk situation in Syria under the brutal Assad regime when he had to evacuate 100 workers at a hospital close to the front line. They had to flee in minutes but one doctor refused to go. "I'm saying to the guy, 'you don't get an option here, you are relocating no matter what you think. Get on that truck, you're putting other lives at risk here, we'll come back as soon as we can but at this point we don't know if hell on earth is going to open up around this clinic, this hospital'," says Seawright. Until recently he says, it was impossible to get insurance for his workers in hotspots such as Ukraine, Gaza and Afghanistan, making the delivery of aid and the care of his team even more costly. That added to the complications of managing teams of workers that were both local and international. Seawright says Gaza is by far the riskiest location right now. "When we started in Gaza we started with a team of nine in the north ... of the nine, seven are now dead, and two are severely injured. Even our team in Ukraine and our team in Syria ... they tell us to be careful in Gaza. Even places like Ukraine which in itself is extremely dangerous." Security expert James Robertson of International SOS says working with clients in the Middle East has been "intense". One of the challenging parts is pulling together a disparate group of people and preparing them for a difficult border crossing. "When you're trying to co-ordinate lots of different clients, each of whom has a different risk tolerance, a different appetite for uncertainty and friction, I suppose, trying to co-ordinate them together to make a response on the ground can be pretty tricky." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
RNZ News
03-07-2025
- RNZ News
61 missing after boat sinks near Indonesia's Bali: local rescue agency
Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, in part due to lax safety standards. Photo: SONNY TUMBELAKA At least 61 people were missing after a ferry sank off the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali , a local search and rescue agency said. The vessel sank around 11:20 pm (local time) on Wednesday in the Bali Strait as it sailed to the famous holiday destination from Indonesia's main island Java, Surabaya search and rescue agency said in a statement. "The ferry's manifest data totalled 53 passengers and 12 passenger crews," the Java-based agency said, adding rescue efforts were still underway. "The ferry, which is estimated to have sunk at 23:20 local time, also contained 22 vehicles including 14 trucks," it said. The agency said in a later statement four people were rescued in the early hours of Thursday. RNZ has approached MFAT for comment as to whether any New Zealanders were on board. Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards. In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person. In 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra island. - AFP with additional reporting by RNZ
