The Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, is travelling to the Persian Gulf this weekend for meetings in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Murray McCully Photo: RNZ
High on the agenda will be a free-trade deal New Zealand is pursuing with the Gulf states.
The former Prime Minister, John Key, who visited the region in 2015, said he hoped such a deal could be completed some time this year.
Mr McCully said the economies of the Gulf States and New Zealand were highly complementary and he looked forward to discussing the deal.
He said regional security and renewable energy would also be on the agenda.