I have not met with Ambassador Burgess in the past three months but I greatly appreciate his work in promoting our bilateral relations with New Zealand since the establishment of a resident New Zealand Embassy here two years ago, in parallel with the opening of our Embassy in Wellington.
Ambassador Burgess is in regular, close contact with my Department on many issues and, most recently, he helped arrange a phone conversation between the Secretary General of my Department and the CEO of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on 20 October.