Bill English

Finance Minister Bill English will visit Australia in the next two weeks, where he will speak to business audiences and have discussions with various financial and industry leaders in Sydney and Melbourne.

"Australia is our largest trading partner and our close economic relationship has certainly helped New Zealand as we brought our economy out of recession and took early steps to build the recovery," Mr English says.

"It's important that we maintain our strong links with the business and investment community across the Tasman, because we have many common challenges and opportunities."

Mr English will visit Sydney on 4 August, where he will speak to the International CEO Forum and the Australian Business Economists.

In Melbourne the next day, he will speak to the Infrastructure Partnerships Australia conference, where he will discuss progress with the Government's multi-billion infrastructure programme and the National Infrastructure Plan.

Mr English will return to Melbourne on 12 August to speak at the Australia New Zealand School of Government annual conference.

During both visits to Australia, Mr English will also meet a number of business and infrastructure sector leaders.