P.M. BRIEFING : New Zealand Forest Sale Stalled
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Maori land claims, some dating back 150 years, are threatening plans for a multibillion-dollar sale of New Zealand’s state forests to private investors, including American companies.
Uncertainty over the sale, by far the biggest yet in the Labor government’s program to sell state-owned assets, is stalling forestry investment and making foreigners reconsider the notion of buying into New Zealand forests, industry officials said today.
The government announced the sale last July. But it has also said the deal, estimated at up to $4.3 billion, cannot go ahead until the complex web of Maori claims on large tracts of forest are resolved.
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