Welcome to Trade Works, the communications platform for the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF), and the New Zealand Chapter of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

Here you will find information about trade and investment and why these are important for New Zealand. You can find out more about NZIBF, our members, governance and projects and what we are saying about current issues. You can also read up about the work of ABAC and its New Zealand members.

Why is trade important?

Trade is the life blood of our economy, in normal times and times of crisis. Trade, both exports and imports, gives consumers more choice and a broader range of goods and services to choose from.

Freer trade, by which we mean unhindered by unnecessary trade barriers, has helped make possible the lifestyles we have become accustomed to. It has helped diversify and deepen our economy.

But more than this, the links we develop through trade and investment with other economies support people to people connections. They give us a richer and more diverse society.

What about jobs?

Put simply, more trade means more jobs. We can’t prosper by selling to ourselves, we can’t eat all we produce and we can’t produce all we need. Over 600,000 jobs in New Zealand are dependent either directly or indirectly on trade.