NOTE: Due to the catastrophe in Tohoku, north eastern Japan, the third Japan NZ Partnership Forum will now be held in Tokyo on Monday 11 July.

A third Japan NZ Partnership Forum, involving senior leaders from government, business and the wider community from both countries, will be held in Tokyo on 11-12 May 2011.

NZ International Business Forum Executive Director Stephen Jacobi told delegates at the 37th Annual Meeting of the Japan NZ Business Council in Tauranga today that previous Partnership Forum events, in May 2008 and October 2009, had been successful in developing new momentum in the relationship between the two countries.

“The challenging economic times in which we find ourselves demand something more than incremental progress.  Business models are changing rapidly; trade and investment needs to expand to enable us to respond to consumers’ needs; a new generation of trade agreements is today in the making.  Business needs to continue to play a strong role in moving the agenda between our two countries forward”.

In his remarks to the Tauranga conference Mr Jacobi drew attention to the potential of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations now underway as a means of providing a template for building sustainable economic growth in the Asia Pacific region.

“In the absence of an over-arching framework for regional economic integration we have instead a “noodle bowl” of proliferating and sometimes conflicting FTAs in the region.  TPP presents an effective way of untangling those noodles”.

Mr Jacobi said that while Japan is not yet a party to TPP, the Japanese Government is following negotiations with interest.

“Comments from newly appointed Japanese Ministers in recent weeks suggest that consideration of the strategic merits of joining TPP while it is still under negotiation is generating significant consideration in Tokyo”.

“TPP could provide the appropriate context in which Japan and New Zealand could realise their own ambitions for an expanded partnership in trade and investment”.

Mr Jacobi said the Partnership Forum would focus on the development of the relationship in its broadest sense and would be held at the conference centre of the Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) in downtown Tokyo.