The Prime Ministers of Finland and New Zealand should meet and clarify that it is not because of young women.

New Zealand President Jacinda Ardern and her Finnish counterpart Sanna Marin said they would meet in Auckland on Wednesday. Not for women, but for being Prime Minister. Rejecting macho stereotypes.

The two presidents responded to a journalist’s question about their relationship for being the same age at a press conference, with Ardern and Marin rejecting the insinuation and underlining the economic potential between the two countries.

“A lot of people ask: do you meet because you’re the same age and have a lot in common, politically and otherwise, or can New Zealanders expect agreements between our countries later?” asked the journalist.

Ardern asked former US President Barack Obama and former New Zealand Prime Minister John Key if anyone had asked the same question when they met in the past.

“My first question is if Barack Obama and John Key were ever asked if they got together because they were the same age. Of course, we have a higher proportion of men in politics, that’s the reality, because two women get together not because of their gender,” the New Zealand president said.

The Finnish Prime Minister, who is on an official visit to New Zealand between November 29 and December 1, has answered the question firmly, saying, “Of course we will meet as Prime Ministers.”

Economic “potential” between the two countries

Announcing that he had traveled to New Zealand with a group of businessmen, Marin emphasized that there is a lot of opportunity for both countries in areas such as technology to ensure freedom in this sector.

“I am very concerned about the dependence we now have on authoritarian countries for new technologies, the digital system in our societies,” the Finnish prime minister said.

Ardern said Finland, which exports 199 million New Zealand dollars (119 million euros) to New Zealand, has companies such as Nokia and produces biofuels and even elevators that New Zealand buys. The president added that New Zealand exports 14 million New Zealand dollars (11.44 million euros) to Finland, particularly wine and beef, and that there is “enormous potential” between the two countries.

Ardern recalled that both countries would benefit from a free trade agreement that the EU and New Zealand concluded negotiations on earlier this year, which still needs to be signed and ratified.