Radio Iowa
09-07-06
New Zealand Ambassador visits Iowa
by O.Kay Henderson
New Zealand's Ambassador to the United States has been visiting Iowa this
week. Iowa's the first state Ambassador Roy Ferguson has visited since moving
to the District of Columbia in mid-February.
"It's been a very successful visit," Ferguson says. "I came...because of the
growing links between Iowa and New Zealand, particularly in the bio-tech area."
Ferguson has visited Iowa State University, toured ethanol plants and other
manufacturing facilities, and he met with a group of central Iowa business
leaders this (Thursday) morning. "Sometimes governments can facilitate contacts
and help networking simply because we have the resources to visit places, to
meet people and to make connections," the Ambassador says.
Iowa's governor took a delegation of Iowans to New Zealand in 2004 and signed
a "compact" to expand trade ties between the two countries. "We were very
impressed with the similarities of interest between Iowa and New Zealand, the
similarities in size and the fact that we both come from agricultural
backgrounds...and have had a similar international outlook in terms of the
importance of international trade on our economies," Ferguson says.
New Zealand's top imports from the U.S. are machinery, planes, computers and
electrical appliances. New Zealand's top exports to the United States are beef,
dairy products, lamb and wood. Iowa officials say there have been over two
dozen business relationships cemented between Iowa and New Zealand
companies in the past two years.
The ambassador says he was "keen" to see if he could build on those
relationships and broaden collaboration in the areas of science and education.
As for new discoveries, Ferguson says he had been told Iowa was flat, but found
out it has a "gently rolling" landscape.
"We've had just a marvelous stay and I think I was impressed by the similarity in
values between Iowa and New Zealanders," the ambassador says. "We are both
people who are sort of rooted in an agricultural background and who value hard
work and honesty and have a can-do attitude."