Swedish PM and German minister due this week

Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will both visit New Zealand this week.

Mr Persson arrives on Sunday for a three-day visit that Prime Minister Helen Clark believes to be the first by a Swedish leader.

He will meet the Cabinet and attend a formal parliamentary lunch next Monday.

Mr Fischer arrives today, leading a German parliamentary delegation in what Helen Clark also described as an important visit. She said Germany was our eighth biggest trading partner and their scientific and academic exchange was valuable.

"In terms of foreign policy, Germany clearly carries a lot of weight in the European Union. It is a very important partner in the EU. It is a country has always been prepared to go to bat on the agricultural subsidy issue and has been a force for change on that," Helen Clark said.

New Zealand and Germany also saw eye-to-eye on many issues.

"Modern German foreign policy has a lot in common with modern New Zealand foreign policy on issues like the Kyoto protocol, for example."

Mr Fischer and the Prime Minister will sign an updated film co-production agreement between the two countries.

- NZPA