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UAE, New Zealand Sign MoA on Food Security

The United Arab Emirates flag flies in front of the Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai. (Reuters file photo)
The United Arab Emirates flag flies in front of the Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai. (Reuters file photo)
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UAE, New Zealand Sign MoA on Food Security

The United Arab Emirates flag flies in front of the Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai. (Reuters file photo)
The United Arab Emirates flag flies in front of the Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai. (Reuters file photo)

The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) signed a memorandum of arrangement (MoA) with New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to enhance collaboration in food security.

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and Honorable Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s Minister of Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, signed the MoA at the New Zealand Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, state news agency WAM reported.

Speaking on the new partnership, Almheiri said: "The UAE and New Zealand enjoy robust and long-standing trade relations, with bilateral trade seeing an average annual growth of 11 percent in the past decade."

"Building on our strong ties, we are pleased to join forces with New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to boost food security and streamline supply chains. Under the MoA, we will share best practices and expertise based on high-tech and innovative solutions."

For his part, Honorable Damien O’Connor said: "I’m pleased to be here in the UAE and to sign an MoA on a food security partnership with Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri. As an agricultural and innovative trading nation, this partnership recognizes our role in supplying high-quality, safe food and beverages to the UAE."

The MoA covers three areas of cooperation, including exchanging knowledge between government agencies, increasing mutual food trade, and sharing policies and best practices in the sectors.

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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.