NZIBF’s submission to MFAT on the New Zealand UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations.
Realising that trans Pacific opportunity Dominion Post – 22 November 2011
By Stephen Jacobi
Amidst the funk of the annual APEC meetings in Honolulu were some announcements which could contribute to the country’s future economic success including the release of the “broad outlines” of TPP.
For an organisation linking both sides of the Asia Pacific, this year’s APEC Summit had some special symbolism: APEC was held in the Pacific itself, in Honolulu, against a background of continuing global economic fragility but also some guarded optimism about the future of the Asia Pacific region.
APEC’s 21 member economies account for 40 per cent of the world’s population,
close to 44 per cent of the world’s trade, 54 per cent of global GDP and around 80 percent of New Zealand’s exports. That should make the annual APEC gathering of more than passing interest to New Zealanders.
This year’s APEC Economic Leaders’ meeting was chaired by President Obama and attended by Deputy Prime Minister Bill English. It focused largely on securing the region’s economic recovery in the light of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. Trade, job creation and regulatory reform were all high on the agenda of the large number of officials and CEOs who mingled amidst the honeymooners and surfers in Waikiki.
President Obama surfed a wave of his own in Honolulu as he engaged personally with the region’s free trade vision. The President arrived in Honolulu having at last succeeded in getting Congress to ratify the three trade agreements (Korea, Colombia and Panama) signed by his predecessor. Facing a jobs crisis at home which can only be addressed by further export growth, Obama used the opportunity of Honolulu to demonstrate his Administration’s commitment to the region and to show some welcome new leadership on trade.
A lot of attention was focused on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Honolulu was the occasion for the release of the broad outlines of TPP, including an ambitious timetable for concluding the negotiation in 2012. Japan, Mexico and Canada all signalled their willingness to join the nine other parties in the negotiation. The Japanese announcement came after significant public and policy debate in Tokyo and marks a major new step for Japanese trade policy.
The TPP announcement more than meets business expectations at this point. Importantly, TPP partners reaffirmed that the final agreement must be comprehensive, high quality and innovative. These were all criteria listed in a joint statement by Asia Pacific business organisations issued in Honolulu.
TPP is positioned as a new generation agreement aimed at making a first step towards creating a seamless economic space in the region and achieving the rather elusive goal of a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific. By “new generation” is meant an agreement which finishes the “old” agenda of eliminating over time remaining tariffs and border restrictions and moves on to address the new needs of business in areas like services, investment, innovation and behind the border, regulatory issues. Such an agreement will need to factor in environmental and labour concerns, be relevant to small and medium size business and promote capacity building for developing countries.
TPP remains a work in progress. As negotiations continue the emphasis will be on building on the significant new momentum of the negotiations, retaining a high level of ambition and finding a way to open the negotiation to the three new aspirants without delaying the negotiating process. Aspects of the negotiation are controversial and will require close consultation with stakeholders. When the negotiation is completed New Zealanders will have the opportunity to assess the outcome through the Parliamentary and Select Committee process prior to ratification.
A raft of other business got done in Honolulu. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) with its three New Zealand members presented its report to Leaders and engaged in direct dialogue with President Obama, President Hu Jintao and other leaders. This year’s report was informed by a study of the new ways business is being done in the region through the development of complex supply and value chains. Finding ways to optimise these chains, to get them working better, faster, cheaper, was a major focus. The ABAC team was joined by a delegation of senior business leaders attending the APEC CEO Summit at which some of the world’s leading companies participated. Trade Minister Groser went into overdrive in Honolulu playing a key role in the TPP discussions, announcing new access for kiwifruit in Mexico, a new project to boost trade with Thailand and holding discussions with counterparts across the region. The Honolulu Declaration commits APEC to a range of initiatives in the areas of trade, green growth and regulatory co-operation.
When President Clinton hosted APEC in Seattle in 1993 he used the occasion to engender a new round of trade-creating initiatives ? a “triple play” including APEC, the WTO and NAFTA. Last week’s Honolulu meetings in the heart of the Pacific had a similar feel to them and demonstrate the optimism that exists about the future of the Asia Pacific region.
REGISTER WITH TRADE WORKS
Register to stay up to date with latest news, as well as saving and discussing articles you’re interested in.
Latest News
SUBMISSION TO THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE – APRIL 2024
NEW ZEALAND-UAE COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS This submission is made on behalf of the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF), whose members are listed at Annex A[1]. NZIBF is a forum of senior business leaders working together...
NEW TEAM FOR AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND LEADERSHIP FORUM
Media release, 2 April 2024 The New Zealand Co-Chair of the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF), Greg Lowe, welcomes the appointment of Stephen Jacobi and Simon Le Quesne to the New Zealand arm of the ANZLF Secretariat. The ANZLF brings business leaders,...
NZ/EU FTA A BONUS FOR SOME SECTORS – BUSINESS FORUM
Media release, 22 March 2024 The NZ International Business Forum (NZIBF) acknowledges the passage of the implementing legislation for the New Zealand/European Union Free Trade Agreement and looks forward to the FTA’s entry into force on 1 May. “This agreement was...
“MEAGRE OUTCOME” FROM WTO IN ABU DHABI – BUSINESS FORUM
Media release, 2 March 2024 Despite its overwhelming importance at the heart of the international trade system, members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have concluded their Ministerial in Abu Dhabi (“MC13”) with only a meagre outcome. NZ International Business...
To go or woe with the WTO?
We’ve been here before with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The global trade body’s 13th Ministerial meeting (“MC13”) opens in Abu Dhabi on Monday 26 February, with Trade Minister McClay serving as Vice-Chair. In recent weeks diplomats, trade...
DCANZ – Agricultural Subsidy Distortions Must Be Addressed
23 February 2024 - Media Release by the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) As the world’s Trade Ministers head to a WTO meeting in Abu Dhabi, the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ) is calling for an immediate capping of agricultural...
Asia-Pacific business leaders call for greater economic dynamism with people at the center of the APEC agenda
16 February 2024 - APEC NEWS RELEASE Issued by The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), meeting this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, expressed deep concerns about the growing pressures of economic fragmentation and the risks...
SUBMISSION TO THE PARLIAMENTARY FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE AND TRADE COMMITTEE – FEBRUARY 2024
NEW ZEALAND EUROPEAN UNION FREE TRADE AGREEMENT LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL Introduction and Summary This submission is made on behalf of the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF) and Export NZ. NZIBF is a forum of senior business leaders working...
ABAC Statement on WTO MC13 – February 2024
Now, more than ever, the world needs a credible, relevant, and effective multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core. In this era of global challenges, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) recognizes that the WTO is...
Global Industry Statement on the WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions
NZIBF has joined 170 international business associations in calling for an extension to the current moratorium on tariffs applying to digital services (like Netflix) at the forthcoming WTO Ministerial meeting. The undersigned associations urge WTO members to support...
Resilient supply chains: Yesterday, today and tomorrow
Published by the Hinrich Foundation, Singapore, 23 August 2024 By Stephen Jacobi History has much to teach us about the way trade contributes to prosperity through the movement of goods, services, people, and ideas. Today, data can be added to this web of...
SUBMISSION TO THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE
GENERAL REVIEW OF THE COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE AGREEMENT FOR TRANS- PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP) DECEMBER 2023 Summary This submission is made on behalf of the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF). As individual NZIBF Members may make their own...
Todd McClay – your trade mission, should you choose to accept it …
As published by Newsroom 19 December 2023 By Stephen Jacobi “Twas the week before Christmas, When all through the house Not a creature was stirring, Except busy trade officials … ‘Tis the season to be “BiM-ing”* and the NZ International Business Forum has sent its...
2023 – Steps forward and back
Trade liberalisation moved forward and backward in 2023. Some notable gains have been achieved for New Zealand, but war, geo-political rivalry and global inflation continue to depress global markets. While the pandemic continued to lurk in the shadows, 2023 was the...
NZIBF releases Brief to the Incoming Minister of Trade
DECEMBER 2023...