From Asian summer to NZ ice and snow

OFFICIAL FROLIC: It’s all part of the New Zealand experience

In early July 2009 , 30 eager officials from Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, and Viet Nam left their warm climates and stepped off the plane in Wellington to our worst winter ever. Undaunted by the cold and very happy to be here, they soon headed out of Wellington into even lower temperatures and got a chance to be in New Zealand snow for the first time. As part of their learning programme at Eastern Institute of Technology they visited Mount Ruapehu.

They are part of the ELTO Programme, English Language Training for Officials, funded by NZAID, which brings government officials from developing countries to New Zealand for English language learning, spending 7 weeks at NMIT Nelson or EIT Napier, and 13 at ELI, Victoria University of Wellington. The training will allow them to fully participate in international meetings where English is the main language of communication. The focus for this intake’s training is on sustainable economic development.

To date more than 750 officials have taken part in the programme and the New Zealand government recently committed to providing ELTO training to a further 300 officials over the next five years. The Vietnamese ambassador to New Zealand, H.E. Vuong Hai Nam, is himself a former ELTO graduate and one current trainee is the son of a former graduate.