The New Zealand president, Jacinda Ardern, and her Finnish counterpart, Sanna Marin, declared this Wednesday in Auckland that they meet because they are prime ministers and not because they are women, rejecting sexist stereotypes.
Both leaders reacted like this to a journalist's question at a press conference about their affinity for being of a similar age, to which Ardern and Marin rejected the suggestion and underlined the economic potential between the two countries.
"Many people ask: Are you meeting because you are the same age and have many things in common - in politics and other matters - or can New Zealanders expect agreements between our countries later?" the journalist questioned.
Ardern reacted by asking if anyone would ask former US President Barack Obama and former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key the same question when they met in the past.
"My first question is if anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they got together because they were similar in age. Of course, we have a higher proportion of men in politics, that's the reality, because two women getting together is not just because of their gender," said the New Zealand president.
Ardern added that Finland, which exports to New Zealand worth 199 million New Zealand dollars (123 million dollars or 119 million euros), has companies like Nokia and produces biofuels and even elevators that New Zealand buys.
The president added that New Zealand exports some 14 million New Zealand dollars (11.85 million dollars or 11.44 million euros) to Finland, especially wine and beef, and that there is "enormous potential" between the two countries. .
Ardern recalled that both countries will benefit from the free trade agreement that the European Union and New Zealand finished negotiating at the beginning of this year and that still needs to be signed and ratified.
The Finnish prime minister, on an official visit to New Zealand between November 29 and December 1, also reacted firmly to the question: "We meet because we are prime ministers, of course."
Marin declared that he traveled to New Zealand with a delegation of businessmen and stressed that both countries have a lot of potential in sectors such as technology to guarantee independence in the sector.
"I am really concerned about the dependence we now have on authoritarian countries in reference to new technologies, the digital structure in our societies," the Finnish Prime Minister said.
