Rachel Taulelei, CEO of Kono and ABAC Chair for 2021 looks at how business can contribute and prepare for APEC 21 which the Government has announced will be held on virtual digital platforms. Tēnā koutou katoa In these unpredictable times it is challenging to think...
The World Trade Organisation’s system of global trade rules has helped to lift millions from poverty and underpinned seventy years of global prosperity. As WTO members consider candidates for a new Director General this week, however, the WTO faces a crisis of...
What role can New Zealand play with “global Britain”? If negotiations beginning this week are successful, New Zealand’s economic relationship with the United Kingdom could be returned to something more open and dynamic, if not completely like things were in a dimly...
Trade changed significantly in the years following the creation of the World Wide Web in 1990, and then again exponentially with the advent of the first iPhone in 2007. Rather than more traditional trade shipped by sea or air, “digital trade” can now be weightless,...
The Chinese Premier expresses interest in China joining CPTPP. This should be encouraged. “China has a positive and open attitude about joining CPTPP”. These words of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the conclusion of the recent National People’s Congress mark the...
Diversifying the New Zealand export economy is a worthy goal but requires a dose of commercial reality. A 2018 study of 183 economies’ dependence on China, undertaken by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, showed that New Zealand ranked 93rd. ...
The pandemic is changing the way that we live, work and do business; the ‘Great Lockdown’ is a jarring juxtaposition against the great unlocking of global markets over the last fifty years. However, one area where there is still unfortunately some truth to the...
The World Trade Organisation’s dispute settlement mechanism has long been described as the “jewel in the crown” of the global trading system, offering WTO members certainty about defending their trade rights. Since last December, however, the ability to take...
Rachel Taulelei, CEO of Kono and Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council for 2021, discusses how the Asia-Pacific business community is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ko te whare tū ki te koraha he kai mā te ahi; ko te whare tū ki te pā tūwatawata he tohu nō...
Photo: First, do no harm - attributed to Hippocrates, 460-370 BC Economies need to fight the Covid-19 virus by standing together. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but not stupid ones. The world faces an unprecedented challenge to human health and to...