Read NZIBF’s to the #IPEF Supply Chain Agreement announcement.
Letter to the Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister
We welcome the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) in Auckland on 4 February.
New Zealand stands to gain significantly from TPP, which links 36% of global GDP, 812 million consumers and includes markets taking 40% of our exports. Our major trade interests – meat, horticulture, wine, seafood, forest products, dairy and manufactured goods – will all benefit from the reduction and/or elimination of tariffs and non tariff barriers especially in markets like Japan, the United States, Canada, Mexico and Peru. Our services sectors will also benefit from improved rules governing trade in services.
It is inconceivable that New Zealand would allow our access to markets to be impaired and our competitiveness to decline by standing outside such an important agreement when our competitors are part of it.
These tangible trade gains have been secured without the need for significant policy change in New Zealand. We are already a largely open market for foreign competition. We have robust laws for environmental and labour protection. TPP clearly provides for continuing favourable treatment for Maori under the Treaty of Waitangi, which is fully protected. Our state owned enterprises already operate along commercial lines. Our current policies in relation to intellectual property will also require little change, except in the area of copyright. We welcome your assurances that TPP will not entail increases in the costs of medicines for individual Kiwis. The TPP contains a number of provisions that will enhance patient access to innovative health care in member countries, including groundbreaking provisions for strong medical device regulatory coherence and systems based on international best practices.
We support the protection that investor state dispute settlement provides to investors in New Zealand and to our businesses that make investments in other countries. These protections have been a feature of our previous trade agreements. It appears to us that the Government’s continuing right to regulate in areas such as public health, the environment and land purchases is effectively safeguarded in TPP. The checks and balances in the agreement pose little likelihood that New Zealand would be successfully challenged. Foreign direct investment in New Zealand has been an important source of economic growth and job creation over the years and we need to continue to attract it.
New Zealand benefits enormously from trade. It creates higher value jobs, ensures our firms are globally competitive, keeps us innovating and investing in new technology and the latest management and work-place practices. Our integration with the rest of the world is vital for continuing economic success. TPP takes us a step further in that direction and provides a new body of rules for trade and investment, which New Zealand has had a hand in making.
Yours sincerely,
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
IPEF SUPPLY CHAIN AGREEMENT – A USEFUL BUT MODEST STEP – BUSINESS FORUM
Media release, 29 May 2023 “Supply chains are the arteries of global trade – any moves to make them function more efficiently and make sure they are resilient in times of crisis are to be welcomed”, says NZIBF Executive Director Stephen Jacobi. Mr Jacobi was reacting...
SINGAPORE AND NEW ZEALAND – A MOST “FTA-ed” RELATIONSHIP
Stephen Jacobi continues his posts from his Singapore sojourn. Spending time in Singapore reminds me of the several visits I made in 2000-02 when I was serving as Private Secretary to Trade Minister Jim Sutton. Jim concluded the first free trade agreement with...
ADDRESS TO THE 52nd ONE STOP UPDATE FOR THE ACCOUNTANT IN BUSINESS
CHRISTCHURCH, WELLINGTON, AUCKLAND, MAY 2023 STEPHEN JACOBI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,NZ INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FORUM GLOBAL ECONOMIC UPDATE Thanks to our friends at Brightstar for having me back again to provide the global economic update. I’ll be talking at a macro level...
RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAINS – FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE 21st
I am spending some extended time in Singapore. This gives me the opportunity to see things from the vantage point of this amazing trade hub of the Asia Pacific. From the sight from the plane of container ships – lots and lots of them – in the...
Asia Pacific Business Leaders Call for Forging a New Path on Inclusion, Resilience, and Sustainability
Bandar Seri Begawan, 30 April 2023 - APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) members this week urged APEC Trade Ministers to leverage the challenges facing the region, including environmental risks, financial stress and the cost-of-living crisis, as opportunities to...
Entry into force of FTA ushers in new era for NZ UK trade
Media release, 5 May 2023 The NZ International Business Forum (NZIBF) welcomes the announcement that the NZ UK Free Trade Agreement will enter into force on 31 May 2023. “When so many around the world are turning their back on trade liberalisation, New Zealand and the...
Remarks to ASEAN Business Council Webinar, 26 April 2023
REMARKS TO ASEAN NZ BUSINESS COUNCIL WEBINAR, 26 APRIL 2023 STEPHEN JACOBI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT - US/CHINA TENSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR ASEAN It’s great to join this webinar with my good friend Siah Hwee Ang. Thanks to the ASEAN NZ Business...
Business Forum welcomes report’s strategic approach to Indian market
Media release, 27 April 2023 The NZ International Business Forum (NZIBF) welcomes the discussion document India & New Zealand, A Relationship Ready For Its Next Phase released today by the India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC). “INZBC and the report’s authors...
Remarks to Confederation of Indian Industry Partnership Summit, New Delhi, 15 March 2023
"The Future of Multilateralism" by Stephen Jacobi, NZIBF Executive Director Namaskar Tēnā koutou katoa – greetings to you all in the language of the Māori people of Aotearoa New Zealand. It is an honour for me to speak to such a distinguished gathering today....
AMIDST THE STORM: ABAC MEETS IN AUCKLAND
Perhaps a cyclone was after all a fitting backdrop for the meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) which was held in Auckland on 12-14 February – the global environment against which the meeting took place is decidedly stormy. In the event the wind...
Asia-Pacific business leaders call for action on climate and economic inclusion
APEC NEWS RELEASE Issued by The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Auckland, 14 February 2023 - Members of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) met in Auckland, New Zealand this week to develop a work plan that calls on policymakers to leverage trade and...
ASIA-PACIFIC BUSINESS LEADERS GATHERING IN AUCKLAND, 12-14 FEBRUARY 2023
Media Release - 8 February 2023 Equity, sustainability and opportunity are key themes of one of the largest gatherings of senior Asia-Pacific business leaders held in New Zealand for some time. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) is due to meet in Tāmaki...
A YEAR FOR RECONNECTING
As I write this end of year dispatch, NZIBF is preparing to host the first meeting for 2023 of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). We are looking forward to welcoming the 200 or so business leaders and senior officials from APEC member economies across the...
MAJOR GATHERING OF ASIA-PACIFIC BUSINESS LEADERS TO BE HELD IN AUCKLAND, 12-14 FEBRUARY 2023
Media Release - 14 December 2022 Sustainability, digitalisation and resilient, inclusive trade will be key themes of a major gathering of senior Asia-Pacific business leaders to be held in Auckland early next year – the first such event to be held in New Zealand...
NZ Herald: Time to lift our game in India
Following his recent visit to India our Executive Director Stephen Jacobi penned this article advocating a more strategic approach to the further development of the relationship. The article was published by the NZ Herald on 9 December.