MPI’s Diana Reaich: Building global trade relationships
Relationships are key to opening new trading opportunities and dealing with some of the rules that countries impose that impede the free flow of trade.
OPINION: Your old mate notes that the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is trying to stonewall the good folk at this newspaper from coming up with the actual costs of its 'Fit for a better world' strategy.
Rumour has it the Ombudsman is now reviewing the case and MPI may well be forced to come up with the answers sooner than it wants.
Meanwhile, the Hound was intrigued to recently learn that the government is not shy about spending taxpayer money on fluffy things.
The Taxpayers Union has discovered that MPI recently spent nearly $1 million (or $960k to be accurate) on a recent logo revamp.
It seems MPI thinks that spending nearly a million of your bucks changing the background colour of its logo is good value.
It makes your old mate cringe about how much it has spent on the useless fluff that if 'Fit for a better world'!
According to ASB, Fonterra's plan to sell it's Anchor and Mainlands brands could inject $4.5 billion in additional spending into the economy.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.
The climate of uncertainty and market fragmentation that currently characterises the global economy suggests that many of the European agricultural machinery manufacturers will be looking for new markets.
Dignitaries from all walks of life – the governor general, politicians past and present, Maoridom- including the Maori Queen, church leaders, the primary sector and family and friends packed Our Lady of Kapiti’s Catholic church in Paraparaumu on Thursday October 23 to pay tribute to former prime Minister, Jim Bolger who died last week.
Agriculture and Forestry Minister, Todd McClay is encouraging farmers, growers, and foresters not to take unnecessary risks, asking that they heed weather warnings today.
With nearly two million underutilised dairy calves born annually and the beef price outlook strong, New Zealand’s opportunity to build a scalable dairy-beef system is now.

OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…