Minister attending Inter-American agricultural conference

Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy will depart for Argentina tomorrow to attend the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) conference.

“This will be a valuable opportunity to meet with my counterparts from Latin America, the US, Canada and the Caribbean, to discuss some of the issues and opportunities facing the agricultural sector across the world.

“Some of the issues covered will include the work of the Global Research Alliance of which New Zealand is a major supporter, and the importance of water storage and management.”

Mr Guy will also visit Uruguay and Paraguay to meet with officials and his Ministerial counterparts.

“Latin America is one of the world’s fastest growing regions and New Zealand is serious about building relationships here. This visit will build on the highly successful trade mission led by the Prime Minister to this region earlier this year, which I was a part of.

“Agriculture is very important to all three of the countries I will be visiting, and we can all benefit from greater cooperation. New Zealand is recognised as an agribusiness leader and there is a real desire from other countries to learn from our experiences.”

As part of the trip Mr Guy will meet with New Zealand companies based in Uruguay and Argentina, and address the Institute for Meat Promotion of Argentina.