Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce will fly to Korea on Sunday to attend the OECD science Ministers meeting, then on to China where he will lead a delegation of 24 education providers in Beijing where New Zealand is the “Country of Honour” at China Education Expo fair.

Korea is New Zealand’s sixth largest export market for goods and services, and the recently signed Korea New Zealand Free Trade Agreement is due to take effect soon, once implementation processes are completed.

Mr Joyce will attend the OECD science ministers meeting in Daejeon, hosted by the Korean Government, where he will chair one of the sessions and hold bilateral meetings with Ministers and senior officials from Korea, Norway, Australia, the United States.

“The visit is an opportunity to further strengthen our bilateral science and innovation linkages with all of the participating countries, and especially with Korea. We are already working with the Koreans on a number of joint research projects, such as human digital interaction for immersive 4D home entertainment and Antarctic research.

This type of international collaboration and investment broadens the capacity of our science system and ensures New Zealand remains at the forefront of new developments,” Mr Joyce says. 

The visit to Korea follows the Prime Minister’s visit to Seoul in March, and a visit to Auckland by the Korean Foreign Minister in September.

Mr Joyce will then travel to Shanghai and Beijing, on his third visit to China this year, to focus on deepening bilateral education linkages and to advance joint science and innovation initiatives.

In Beijing, where New Zealand is the Country of Honour at the China Education Expo fair, Mr Joyce will lead the 24 strong education delegation. He will meet with senior Chinese leaders and participate in bilateral education activities, including the 4th New Zealand – China Higher Education Forum, the New Zealand – China Technical Vocational Education and Training Forum, and will address the Plenary Session of China Annual Conference for International Education (CEAIE).

“Advancing bilateral education linkages and helping to raise New Zealand’s profile as an international education destination will be a key focus.  International education contributed $2.85 billion to the New Zealand economy last year, supporting 30,230 jobs across the country, and there’s significant potential for further growth.”

“China is a key strategic science and innovation partner for New Zealand, and makes an enormous investment in science capital. There are real benefits to our scientists from collaborations such as Shanghai’s Drug Discovery Centre, which has partnerships with several New Zealand universities”.

Mr Joyce will return to New Zealand on Sunday 25^th October.