NZIBF’s submission to MFAT on the New Zealand UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations.
A Trade Policy for our times
The Government is “refreshing” its trade policy strategy. That’s both admirable and timely.
The existing strategy coined a generation ago by former Trade Minister Tim Groser when still an MFAT official has served New Zealand well. It saw in the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round, the inauguration of the WTO and led to the negotiation of a suite of high quality FTAs including the as yet unratified TPP.
The world looks vastly different today but no less uncertain. Back then it was unknown whether the Uruguay Round would be concluded. Today we face the same uncertainty with TPP. Back then we were worried about rising protectionism and being excluded from new trading blocs. What’s new?
In that time business has changed profoundly. Global value chains are transforming business models. The challenges faced by business are also different. To the still urgent, unfinished business of tariff elimination for mainly agricultural goods, there now needs to be added more effective ways of addressing non-tariff barriers, improved conditions for a new generation of services industries, better conditions for outward and inward foreign investment, new rules for the digital economy and e-commerce, new ways of fostering innovation. SMEs and the fast moving tech and creative sectors want in. There are new pressures for a better integration of environmental and labour disciplines. Who are our new partners for high quality FTAs and what prospect is there to revive the WTO?
If we have learnt anything about the fractious debate about TPP, it is surely that we have to explain the benefits of trade and investment to a sceptical public. Those benefits include jobs and livelihoods, a richer variety of goods and services and new opportunities at all levels. Yet clearly we have to make trade work even better for people, especially those who face the challenges of adjustment. That means more and better structures for consultation, more openness where possible, and more involvement by business and other stakeholders.
Trade Minister McClay has made a good start by holding public meetings about the strategy. Hopefully these are occasions for listening as well as talking. The times require a new strategy to respond both to the new demands of business and also the public disquiet about the pace and extent of globalisation. That requires more than just a tweaking of what’s there already.
This post has been prepared by Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director of the NZ International Business Forum.
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...