What if NZ could replace huge amounts of paper documents that accompany every export transaction with data?! Going digital would be a win-win for exporters, consumers and governments. Read Glen Candy’s blog for TradeWorks.
Auckland gathering of Asia-Pacific business leaders focus on trade, digital, SMEs
Issued by BusinessNZ
31 January 2018 – The meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) being held from 1-4 February in Auckland will seek to advance sustainable and inclusive growth.
“Prospects for expanded trade and investment in the region have improved significantly with the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) now concluded. We now need to put in place the sort of business strategies that will turn CPTPP into a winning proposition,” BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope said.
BusinessNZ is acting as host organisation for the ABAC meeting which brings together business leaders from APEC’s 21 economies, along with senior officials.
Mr Hope explained that ABAC members, including New Zealand’s own Katherine Rich, Tenby Powell and Phil O’Reilly, will develop recommendations to APEC’s Economic Leaders on business priorities and concerns.
“ABAC has a full agenda and its work programme for 2018 will be kicked off in Auckland. Key topics include removing trade barriers – not just tariffs but also red tape, unfair standards and slow bureaucracy, as well as regulatory hurdles for services trade. Ultimately, ABAC wants to see a region-wide ‘Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific’.
“It is only by thinking about these issues together across the region that we will foster the optimal conditions for modern models of business such as global value chains, which offer important opportunities for SMEs to get involved in trade.”
“And of course, no discussion about future prosperity is complete without talking about how best to surf the wave of digital transformation. That will be a key focus for ABAC at this meeting,” Mr Hope said.
He noted Auckland was an ideal venue for the meeting.
“Auckland is a world-class dynamic, innovative and multi-cultural city, and is also deeply connected to our Pacific neighbours, including this year’s ABAC and APEC Chair Papua New Guinea. I am looking forward to showing it off to our visitors,” Mr Hope added.
The ABAC meeting and associated events are being funded by business supporters and the New Zealand Government (through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and business sponsors. The lead sponsor is ANZ.
ANZ Managing Director Institutional NZ Paul Goodwin said he was excited about ABAC’s work deepening connections within the region.
“ANZ is deeply committed to growing links among Asia Pacific’s senior business community, including stronger trade flows between New Zealand and our trading partners,” Mr Goodwin said.
Other sponsors are Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Douglas Pharmaceuticals and the Bank of China (NZ) Ltd. Support is also being provided by Fonterra and the New Zealand International Business Forum (NZIBF).
New Zealand’s three ABAC members are Katherine Rich of the New Zealand Food & Grocery Council, Tenby Powell of Hunter Powell Investments, and Phil O’Reilly of Iron Duke Partners; Stephen Jacobi (Executive Director of NZIBF) serves as Alternate Member.
New Zealand will Chair APEC in 2021, and will host a range of APEC meetings that year, including the APEC Leaders’ Week that will also be held in Auckland.
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
Doubling our exports with zeroes…and ones!
The development of written language in the ancient world didn’t start with great poetry or literary epics. The catalyst for writing was the need to record the transfer of the ownership of goods from one person to another. Scribes did this by marking tablets of clay...
Asia-Pacific business leaders rally for robust global trade amidst rising protectionism
APEC NEWS RELEASE Issued by The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) - April 2024 This week in Hong Kong, China, the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) voiced serious concerns regarding the global shift towards protectionism and regional fragmentation, risking...
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...