New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated on Thursday her government will explore more travel “bubbles” and lead trade delegations later this yr to re-connect with a post-pandemic world after more than a yr of border closures.
Tough lockdowns and its geographical location has helped New Zealand eliminate the novel coronavirus within its borders, but left the country of 5 million isolated from the rest of the world.
With the majority of its essential workers now being vaccinated and inoculated for the wider population beginning in July, the government is preparing a plan for how it would reopen.
Ardern stated New Zealand began rebuilding contact by opening quarantine-free travel with neighboring Australia and the South Pacific’s Cook Islands and is considering more such travel bubble options.
“Niue is the natural next addition. Beyond that, we are relatively open-minded, and I do anticipate there will be other nations we can explore opportunities with,” Ardern stated in her pre-budget speech in Auckland.
More than 70,000 individuals landed in New Zealand from Australia since the travel bubble opened last month, and over 57,000 have traveled the other way, Ardern stated.
She, however, noted that vaccine roll out in New Zealand is incomplete and the number of nations it could safely open up to is also restricted.
Ardern stated she will lead a trade and promotional delegation to Australia in early July, and will also look to lead delegations into Europe, America, China, and the wider Asia-Pacific.
“These trips may not have been overly notable pre-COVID, but they are hugely significant in light of the domestic realities we’ve been experiencing, and the global ones that still persist,” Ardern stated.
New Zealand will announce its annual budget next week, which Ardern stated would continue supporting recovery from the pandemic but will also see a shift towards a more targeted response.
