According to the Trade Minister of New Zealand, Tim Groser the agriculture sector is the key aspect of the economy of New Zealand but he wants the other sectors to step up in the country.

In a press statement on Friday, Mustapa Mohamed, Malaysia's Minister of International Trade and Industry and Tim Groser, New Zealand’s Minister of Trade, announced that the Malaysia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will function, starting the first of August.

Trade Minister Tim Groser proclaimed, yesterday, that New Zealand and Russia, with with its Customs Union partners of Belarus and Kazakhstan, will initiate the FTA negotiations.

"Russia has agreed to proceed towards a formal trade agreement with New Zealand, subject to a satisfactory outcome of scoping discussions," he said.

Adding to the education services' earning potential, about 7000 Saudi Arabian students who study in New Zealand are contributing at least $300 million annually.

This was disclosed by Trade Minister Tim Groser who also added that there prevail possibilities of expanding the education services to the Gulf region.

New Zealand, an emerging destination for India's exports, has started negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The decision to start FTA talks was taken at a meeting of Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma with New Zealand's Trade Minister Tim Groser at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Environment Court has made a positive recommendation to Conservation Minister Tim Groser on a plan to set up a harbor tidal power station to harness tidal energy for meeting the country’s electricity demand. The approval is subject to fine-tuning of consent conditions.

The site for the power station will be the Kaipara Harbour, on the west coast just north of Auckland, which could be providing power to 250,000 homes within 10 years.