New Zealand PM Ardern hails Merkel as 'true leader', 'very good person'

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shake hands after a news conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, April 17, 2018. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

(Reuters) - New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Friday paid tribute to outgoing German chancellor Angela Merkel, commending her 16-year leadership of Europe's largest economy and describing her as a "very good person".

The leaders, held in high regard on the international stage as role models for women in policymaking, met virtually at a CEO forum on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit where Ardern fondly recalled an early meeting between the pair in Germany.