It is easy to dismiss New Zealand as little more than a “kid brother” of Australia. This is because New Zealand is Australia’s closest neighbor with which it shares remarkably close ties.

Both were part of the British Empire and are now leading members of the powerful bloc called the Commonwealth of Nations and still nicknamed “the British Commonwealth.” The majority of their residents can trace their roots to the United Kingdom.

But New Zealand has an arguably more colorful culture due to the influence of the native Maoris, who comprise some 15 percent of the population.

Like Australia, New Zealand boasts a prosperous and fully developed market economy.

For the more adventurous in spirit, New Zealand can be an even more enticing place to visit, work, or do business in.

Not too long ago, it was said that there were more sheep than people in New Zealand. Whether true or not, this says plenty about this country which recently gained global fame following the release of one of the most successful film trilogies of all time, The Lord of the Rings.

Directed by a brilliant, young New Zealander, Peter Jackson, the film showed the breathtaking beauty of this country with a population of about four and a half million, or about one third the population of Metro Manila.

It may be a small state compared to Australia, but in many ways New Zealand can be considered an even bigger land of opportunity for Filipinos. For one, the percentage of Filipinos immigrating to New Zealand in relation to the total is much smaller compared to Australia.