<p class="bodytext">New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday her government will explore more travel "bubbles" and lead trade delegations later this year to re-connect with a post-pandemic world after more than a year of border closures.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tough lockdowns and its geographical location has helped New Zealand eliminate the novel coronavirus within its borders, but left the country of 5 million isolated from the rest of the world.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With the majority of its essential workers now being vaccinated and inoculated for the wider population starting in July, the government is preparing a plan for how it would reopen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ardern said New Zealand started rebuilding contact by opening quarantine-free travel with neighbouring Australia and the South Pacific's Cook Islands and is considering more such travel bubble options.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Niue is the natural next addition. Beyond that, we are relatively open-minded, and I do anticipate there will be other countries we can explore opportunities with," Ardern said in her pre-budget speech in Auckland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">More than 70,000 people landed in New Zealand from Australia since the travel bubble opened last month, and over 57,000 have travelled the other way, Ardern said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She, however, noted that vaccine roll out in New Zealand is incomplete and the number of countries it could safely open up to is also limited.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ardern said she will lead a trade and promotional delegation to Australia in early July, and will also look to lead delegations into Europe, the United States, China and the wider Asia-Pacific.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"These trips may not have been overly notable pre-Covid-19, but they are hugely significant in light of the domestic realities we’ve been experiencing, and the global ones that still persist," Ardern said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">New Zealand will announce its annual budget next week, which Ardern said would continue supporting recovery from the pandemic but will also see a shift towards a more targeted response.<br /> </p>
<p class="bodytext">New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Thursday her government will explore more travel "bubbles" and lead trade delegations later this year to re-connect with a post-pandemic world after more than a year of border closures.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tough lockdowns and its geographical location has helped New Zealand eliminate the novel coronavirus within its borders, but left the country of 5 million isolated from the rest of the world.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With the majority of its essential workers now being vaccinated and inoculated for the wider population starting in July, the government is preparing a plan for how it would reopen.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ardern said New Zealand started rebuilding contact by opening quarantine-free travel with neighbouring Australia and the South Pacific's Cook Islands and is considering more such travel bubble options.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Niue is the natural next addition. Beyond that, we are relatively open-minded, and I do anticipate there will be other countries we can explore opportunities with," Ardern said in her pre-budget speech in Auckland.</p>.<p class="bodytext">More than 70,000 people landed in New Zealand from Australia since the travel bubble opened last month, and over 57,000 have travelled the other way, Ardern said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She, however, noted that vaccine roll out in New Zealand is incomplete and the number of countries it could safely open up to is also limited.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ardern said she will lead a trade and promotional delegation to Australia in early July, and will also look to lead delegations into Europe, the United States, China and the wider Asia-Pacific.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"These trips may not have been overly notable pre-Covid-19, but they are hugely significant in light of the domestic realities we’ve been experiencing, and the global ones that still persist," Ardern said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">New Zealand will announce its annual budget next week, which Ardern said would continue supporting recovery from the pandemic but will also see a shift towards a more targeted response.<br /> </p>