State Dinner hosted by the President of Mongolia

May I specifically greet you: Your Excellencies, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, President of Mongolia and Mrs Tsolomon; Foreign Minister Oyun; Ambassador to New Zealand in Batsukh and Mrs Alimaa Laagan; Acting Director of the President's Office, Mr Dolgorjav; Director of the Asia Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ganbold; State Secretary, Mr Tsolgtbaatar; Ambassador designate to New Zealand and current Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister, Mr Jambaldorj; Your Excellency Tony Browne, New Zealand's Ambassador to Mongolia; and Mrs Browne; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen. And in the context of this evening's dinner may I add the greetings: Sain baina uu.

Your Excellency—I want first to register thanks for your invitation to my wife Susan and I to visit to Mongolia.  It is a great honour for us to make this, the first State Visit by a New Zealand Governor-General to your country.

Your Excellency, New Zealand and Mongolia share a number of similar perspectives on the world.  We are both, in terms of population, relatively small nations in isolated parts of the world—Mongolia in the vast expanse of central Asia and New Zealand in the vast expanse of the South Pacific.  As such we both recognise and value the importance of multilateralism in regional and international affairs and that we can achieve far more by working together rather than working alone.

The relationship between our two countries is friendly and positive, marked by warmth and growing co-operation.   

While business and trade interests between our two countries are relatively limited, we share a sense of democratic values and a commitment to preservation of human rights and to multilateralism.  The potential for exchanges of information and technology with respect to agriculture, biotechnology and energy are considerable.

The New Zealand Government has appreciated the number and breadth of official visits from Mongolia in recent years, including one by former President Ochirbat, a predecessor of yours in 1997 and one by yourself the following year when you were Leader of the Opposition.  There have also been a number of other high level ministerial visits.

Our talks this afternoon have spoken of possibilities for the future in more engagement regarding education/tourism/agriculture and biotechnology.

I want to say that the future for them is positive because of what has already been attempted.

There are, for example, the New Zealand Development Scholarships for students from Mongolia to undertake postgraduate study in New Zealand each year.  I understand there are three doctoral students completing their study in New Zealand at the present time.

Next there is institutional development.  New Zealand's public sector reforms have brought predictability and transparency to the operation of government finances.  The Human Rights Commissions of both New Zealand and Mongolia last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding that reflects a significant history of close co-operation, visits and exchanges.

A key relationship between New Zealand and Mongolia is in education, and particularly our English Language Training for Officials, or as it  is better known, the ELTO programme.  Late last year, my wife and I held a farewell reception at Government House in Wellington for graduates from the ELTO programme, including some from Mongolia. 

To date more than 750 officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Timor L'este, Indonesia, Mongolia and Viet Nam have participated, including more than 50 from Mongolia.  The programme's graduates are increasingly to be found in senior positions in government agencies.  The ELTO programme is planned to recommence in 2009 and I am advised that NZAID is recommending the continued involvement of participants from Mongolia.

The broad goal of the programme is to develop English language skills for officials of participating countries to enhance their ability to do their jobs effectively and in this it has been very successful.

But the value of the programme goes much deeper. The German playwright, novelist and poet Goethe once said that: "those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own." 

By living in New Zealand, particularly when in a home stay situation, students not only gain improved English language skills, but a clearer understanding of how the language is used in a cultural context.  For those from Mongolia, the students not only gain a better understanding of New Zealanders but we also learn much about your culture.

In conclusion, Your Excellencies, I want to register that New Zealand values its relationship with Mongolia greatly and our visit to Ulaanbaatar is a physical expression of New Zealand's commitment to the relationship.  We appreciated the welcome ceremony this afternoon in Sukhbaatar Square.

We have been charmed by the friendship offered to our party and by such gestures as the flying of the flags of our two countries in the streets of Ulaanbaatar. 

In conclusion, I want to offer thanks and good wishes in the form of a toast which I propose in the following words:

"To His Excellency the President and to the People of Mongolia, the New Zealand salutation to accompany that is to say, 'Kia Ora'".