From one regional summit to the next – Prime Minister John Key is working to get in the ear of as many world leaders as possible on his trip through Asia.
And that includes the ear of one of the world's richest men, the Sultan of Brunei.
Mr Key is in Brunei for the East Asia Summit. Brunei is one of the world's wealthiest countries, rich in oil and gas. His first meeting was with the Sultan, who lives in the world's largest residential palace – it has 1800 rooms and a 110-car garage, which is not nearly big enough to accommodate his collection of 5000-plus.
Mr Key says New Zealand can learn from Brunei about making money from oil and gas.
"Of course there are things we can exchange and learn about. They're another country which is going to support us, we hope, at the Security Council."
Mr Key has just come from APEC, where he chaired the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, 12 world leaders agreeing to stay on track and support the free trade deal by the end of the year.
Another smaller free trade deal called the ASEAN Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (ARCEP) is being negotiated at the East Asia Summit, but it's far from completion.
To put it into context, the TPP took 19 rounds to get to the stage it's at. ARCEP has only had two rounds of talks, so far.
3 News
source: newshub archive
