Prime Minister Bill English has today launched New Zealand’s updated trade strategy, Trade Agenda 2030, and reiterated the Government’s commitment to free trade. The Prime Minister has also announced the Government’s ambitious goal of having free trade agreements cover 90 per cent of New Zealand’s goods exports by 2030, up from 53 per cent today, as well as investing $91.3 million over four years through Budget 2017 to help achieve this. “New Zealand is succeeding and New Zealanders are getting ahead. Wages and employment opportunities are rising, we’re investing in infrastructure like schools and roads and the Government’s books are…

Prime Minister Bill English announced today that he and Premier Li will hold official talks in Wellington, and that he and the Premier will also meet business leaders in Auckland during his visit from 26 to 29 March. "The visit is an important opportunity to set the agenda for the next stage of our strong relationship and demonstrates our shared commitment to open trade and economic growth," Mr English says. Premier Li’s visit marks the 45th year of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand, and comes three years after China and New Zealand declared a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during…

BADEN-BADEN, Germany The world's top economic powers have dropped a pledge to fully oppose trade protectionism, amid pushback from the government of U.S. President Donald Trump. Finance ministers at a Group of 20 meeting in Germany issued a statement Saturday that said only that countries "are working to strengthen the contribution of trade" to their economies. By comparison, last year's meeting called on... Full article on World powers drop pledge to fully oppose trade protectionism . . .read full release here |  A World News release  |  March 18, 2017  ||    

The easing of United Nations sanctions against Iran in 2016 has created export opportunities for New Zealand. There is significant scope for increased trade, but care is needed. The Government puts its shoulder to the wheel Since United Nations sanctions were eased in 2016, there has been an uptick in government-to-government contact between New Zealand and Iran. The latest visit was by Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy early this month. While in Iran, Minister Guy witnessed the conclusion of a Meat Agreement between the Iranian Veterinary Organisation and the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries and the signing of…

Viña del Mar, Chile - High Level Representatives from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Malaysia, Peru, and Singapore and Vietnam met here today to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the margins of the High Level Dialogue on Integration Initiatives for the Asia Pacific. The participating partners reiterated their firm commitment to collaborate in keeping markets open and to the free flow of goods, services and investment advancing regional economic integration and strengthening the rules-based international trading system noting our concern with protectionism in many parts of the world. They recalled the balanced outcome and the…

The amount of water exported in bottles is so small that it is irrelevant to the important discussion on better managing New Zealand’s freshwater resources, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith says. “We use a million times more water for irrigation, town water supply and industry than that for bottled export. Bottled water exports are such a small fraction that it is a distraction to the important debate about how New Zealand better manages its freshwater resources.” New Zealand’s annual freshwater resource is 500 trillion litres of which 2 per cent, or 10 trillion litres, is extracted. Statistics New Zealand reports…

Trade Minister Todd McClay travels from London to Chile today for the first combined meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries following the United States’ withdrawal from the agreement. “I welcome the opportunity to sit down with other TPP ministers, to take stock of current developments and to look at how we might move this important agreement forward together,” Mr McClay says. Mr McClay says he believed the TPP Agreement continued to offer value as a common set of rules across the Asia-Pacific region. "I have recently visited Australia, Japan, Singapore and Mexico, met with ministers from Brunei and Malaysia and…

Trade Minister Todd McClay met International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox and Minister for Trade Policy Lord Price today to reaffirm their joint commitment to global trade liberalisation, and lay the foundations for the future trade relationship between the UK and New Zealand. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox asserted the importance the UK places on its trading relationship with New Zealand, with total trade in goods and services between the two countries increasing by 13 per cent between 2014-15. The ministers welcomed progress made during the inaugural Trade Policy Dialogue meeting earlier this month. “Our dialogue will enable us to…

Trade Minister Todd McClay and European Union Trade Commissioner Cecelia Malmström have agreed the completion of joint scoping discussions towards an EU-NZ Free Trade Agreement (FTA) following a meeting in Brussels today. After almost 2 years of discussion, reaching this significant milestone means the FTA process now enters a new phase, where the Commission and New Zealand will seek respective mandates to commence negotiations. "Today’s meeting was an important demonstration of our commitment to launch negotiations as soon as possible in 2017," Mr McClay says. “New Zealand and the EU both recognise there are substantial benefits to be gained from…

Trade Minister Todd McClay will travel to Brussels for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks with the European Union (EU) this weekend and will then go on to London for a meeting of Commonwealth Trade Ministers. 'The simple aim of my visit to Brussels is to meaningfully advance efforts to commence our FTA negotiations with the EU,' Mr McClay says. 'The EU is our third largest trading partner with annual two-trade closing in on $21 billion. It is immensely important that we continue to fight on behalf of our exporters for improved access and reduced tariffs.' In London, Mr McClay will…

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy has attended the world’s largest food tradeshow in Dubai today, as annual two-way trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries exceeds $3.2 billion. “This visit is an opportunity to strengthen our business and trade links between GCC countries and New Zealand by shining the spotlight on our world-class products,” says Mr Guy. Gulfood is a five-day food show and provides a platform for New Zealand companies to impress 95,000 visitors expected to visit the 5000 stands from more than 120 countries. “Food and beverage is an important part of our trading relationship, built…