What does New Zealand hope to gain from joining the initiative?

It’s too early to say. This is the beginning of a process which might take years, if not longer, to reach its full potential. What New Zealand is looking for are both opportunities for New Zealand businesses and also ways and means in which the welfare of New Zealanders generally will be increased.

In terms of businesses, that’s more likely to be in areas such as governance or consultancy or advice rather than actual bridge-building or road-building because that’s where our strength lies. New Zealand has expertise in consultancy, also in areas such as animal husbandry, agriculture and environmental protection. Those are all areas which could be of relevance to other countries in the Belt and Road Initiative.