Food security and renewable energy will be high on the agenda during the meeting between the New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully and Saudi ministers here, according to Greg Lewis, deputy head of mission at the New Zealand Embassy.

Lewis told Arab News on Sunday that New Zealand has a strong trading relationship with Saudi Arabia, with over NZ$1.66 billion in bilateral trade for the year to June 2013. “Further enhancing our two-way trade will top the agenda during the foreign minister’s visit,” he said.

wLewis said that New Zealand is closely monitoring developments in Syria and the issue will be part of the discussions during meetings with the Saudi leadership.

He added that the foreign minister had announced last week that New Zealand would provide an additional NZ$5m to assist Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the seventh largest export market for New Zealand with bilateral trade at $4.86 billion in the year to 2012 and their exports to the region continue to grow at over 10 percent per year.

During the regional trip McCully will also meet ministers in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Pakistan before traveling to Ethiopia for the African Union Summit.